When Hearts Collide
by Lil Doro
Summary: Ultimecia succeeds in time compression and creates a world where Sorceresses reign. In the new world, Squall and his friends meet a flower girl and they try to save the world together. Meanwhile, Rinoa is lost in time and meets a blonde mercenary, so they set off to find Squall.
1. Mission Failed

**Chapter One**

**Mission Failed**

The sky was a stormy tone of black, darkening with every second that went by. The air was dense, as if the oxygen level was slowly diminishing. In the sky flew an anomaly that could only be conjured up in a child's nightmare – a pale woman with a twisted smile, her face and body with strange purple marks, her eyes like slits of fire, with grand grey wings like an angel but horns protruding from her head like a demon. She cackled manically, her voice ringing through the endless abyss.

Squall Leonhart tired to stand tall, but his body ached with magical ailments that he had never experienced before. It was as if sanity was slowly draining from his system and his will to live was being crushed by excruciating pain. His hands remained firm on his gunblade, but it was growing heavier in his hold.

He glanced around the bizarre setting he was in – was he still in his own world, his own time? Selphie lay knocked out on the ground, if you could call it that, looking frail and useless without her usual energy. Quistis was standing over her, frantically trying to revive her before it was too late. Zell stood not too far away, desperately trying to summon a Guardian Force, but to no avail. Irvine stood in the distance, firing his bullets laced with magic at their foe, but it seemed that the bullets disintegrated into nothing.

Squall felt a warm touch on his arm. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes met Rinoa's, full of fear.

"Are we going to die, Squall?" she whispered, loud enough for him to hear.

"We can't die here," said Squall firmly, "we have to save the world. It has to be us. I'll protect you, don't worry." He had hoped that the feigned confidence would be enough to keep her spirits up – he knew that Rinoa hated pessimism. Then again, she hated liars too...

Rinoa's bare arm was bleeding dangerously, but she was good at masking any pain she might have felt. Squall uttered a cure spell over her and her wound healed instantly. However, almost immediately after that, the Sorceress Ultimecia unleashed another fatal flurry of silver coloured magic, making Squall and Rinoa fall helplessly to the ground and making any prior healing obsolete.

Pain surged through Squall's body, and it felt like his bones would shatter. He wiped the blood from his brow and heard Irvine swear loudly as he suffered the same fate.

"Squall, what do we do?" yelled Zell, rolling away from the attack before it could get him. "We can't summon our GFs! None of our attacks are working on her!"

Quistis let out a sudden cry of pain as she was engulfed by silver flames, and she fell like a toy soldier. It seemed she was knocked unconscious too, just as Selphie had been.

Any hope left in Squall quickly evaporated. Was this how it was going to end? Did he go through that long, hard journey to discover the truth and to save the world he thought he detested so much just to die here? Was this ... the ultimate failure?

"_We can do it," _Rinoa had said to him before the final battle, _"We'll do it all together. We've come so far."_

They've come so far only to fall so fast...

"Foolish SeeDs," sneered Ultimecia. "You are all merely children! Did you really believe that you can defeat me? I am a divine descendant of Hyne! You cannot kill a Goddess! Time will compress! The world will become one with me, and all humanity will see a new era!"

Ultimecia flung her arms out and ascended higher into the air, a dark and fearful aura emanating around her. The world began to morph, or maybe it was Squall's vision distorting. A violent typhoon-like force ripped through the air. Whatever it was, he and all his companions roared out in agony. The sensation was like gravity trying to tear his body into pieces from every angle. A deafening screeching noise throbbed in his ears, almost piercing into his skull. With what little energy he had left in his body, he threw his arms around Rinoa, holding her so tightly as if his arms would shield her from the agonising pain.

It was the end. The first mission they failed was the one that mattered most.

* * *

A blonde warrior that went by the name of Cloud Strife stood in a deserted church in the slums of what was once known as Midgar. The silence was soothing – it was good to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. He claimed to live a quiet life now, but since the defeat of Sephiroth for the second time, his mind was still not quite at ease. It probably never would be.

Cloud rested his sword against one of the pews of the church and walked towards the flower bed in the centre of the church, radiating with vibrant life. The scent brought a bittersweet sense of nostalgia to him, with fond memories of Aerith lingering on his conscience.

He bent down and picked one of the pink lilies, intending to give it to Tifa when he returned to Seventh Heaven. It had been a long time since he took a day off of work to have a 'family day' with Tifa and the children ... maybe he'll do it tomorrow...

_CRASH!_

The sudden noise interrupted his train of thought, and in an instant, Cloud felt a heavy weight fall upon him. Caught off guard, he fell on his back, glad that the soft flower bed had cushioned him in the sudden impact. He slowly lifted his head to see what had caused him to fall so suddenly. To his shock and embarrassment, a dark-haired girl had fallen right on top of him. He could not see her face, but she was wearing clothes of blue with angel wings imprinted on the back.

_A fallen angel?_ he mused.

Cloud sat up, carefully placing the girl onto the floor of the flowerbed on her back and knelt down beside her. She was unconscious, her face was slightly sweaty, her lips cracked, her skin very pale, and her arms very bloody. He wondered how she got into such a state – and more importantly, why did she fall? Was she on top of the old plate of Midgar? That certainly was strange – nobody lived there anymore since the fall of Meteor.

He looked up at the church's ceiling, which appeared to have been damaged again. He wondered how many people had fallen into the church and whether it could survive another blow from a human being.

Cloud looked back down to the girl who had fallen through. "Hello?" he called out to her.

The feeling of irony and reminisce wavered in Cloud – it was only a few years ago that Aerith was playing the part he was playing now, and he this mysterious girl.

_Except I didn't fall on top of Aerith_, thought Cloud, wanting to laugh at the image. _I wonder how that would have gone down. Hopefully this girl won't ask me for a date when she wakes up._

"Hello?" Cloud said again.

Still, there was no response. Cloud put two fingers on her neck and could feel a faint pulse. As he touched her, something inside of him stirred. The feeling was unsettling, almost like an unsent spirit inside of him trying to unleash itself...

Cloud shook the thoughts out of his head as he removed his hand from her neck, reached into his pocket and pulled out a red feather, glad that he always kept one on his person. He let the feather drop onto her chest as he muttered, "Phoenix Down."

Almost immediately, the girl's eyes fluttered open and she began gasping for air. The sight was so strange – Cloud had never seen anyone react like that to being revived before.

The girl continued to gasp and wheeze, sweat dripping from her brow. She coughed once, and a little blood came out of her mouth.

_This isn't normal, _thought Cloud.

"Esuna," said Cloud forcefully, laying his hands above her.

A mysterious sparkling green light emanated from his hands and flowed into the girl's body. The girl's gasping ceased, and her breathing became more regular. She let out a slow sigh, her eyes slowly drooping down...

"Are you all right?" asked Cloud.

Her eyes opened again slowly. "Am ... am I dead?" she asked quietly. "Is this heaven? Are ... you ... an angel...?"

* * *

Silence.

Numbness.

Motion.

"Ugh ... ungh..."

Squall commanded his body to move. If he could think and feel ... did that mean he was still alive? Was the fight with Ultimecia all just a very bad dream?

"What ... happened?"

That was Zell's voice!

Squall opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. To his amazement, he was lying on the grass in a field of flowers – he recognised it straight away as the one near the orphanage, where he and Rinoa made their promise.

He looked around to find Zell and Irvine standing limply, and Quistis and Selphie were still unconscious. Squall did not remember how they got there or _why _they were there.

"We're alive," sighed Irvine in relief.

"Last thing I remember was getting walloped by Ultimecia," said Zell, massaging his temples.

"Me too," murmured Irvine. "Hey, we should heal the girls."

Irvine rummaged through his pockets and used a Phoenix Down on Quistis and Selphie. The two young women came around shortly, groaning groggily, and then fell into the same state of confusion as the others.

"Where's Rinoa?" said Squall suddenly, noticing that she wasn't there.

"You're right, she isn't here with us," said Zell, frowning.

"You don't think that..." Selphie began, but Quistis cut her off.

"Let's look for her, she can't be too far away," said the blonde woman.

"But first, let's heal ... my head hurts," whined Zell.

Quistis nodded and put her hands out, pointing at Zell. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and said, "Cure!"

Nothing happened.

Quistis opened her eyes, looking at her hands confusedly. "W-What's wrong?"

"Here, let me try!" said Selphie. "CURE!"

Again, there was no effect.

"Hey, why isn't our magic working?" said Selphie, panicked.

Squall grimaced and channelled his thoughts to connect with Ifrit and Bahamut, trying to sense their presence. However, that familiar feel of security and safety he felt when his Guardian Forces were protecting him was absent. He couldn't connect with the guardians – it was as if they had been unjunctioned from him permanently.

"I can't find my GFs," said Irvine, doing the same thing. "Did someone steal them?"

"Argh, what are we gonna do without magic?" said Zell, kicking his shoe against the ground. "What if there are monsters still lurking around?"

"We'll have to make do with items," said Quistis, drinking a small vial of potion and handing one to Zell. "But they won't last long – we have to conserve them."

"We'll worry about that later," said Squall, "First, we have to find Rinoa."

The party split up to search the field for Rinoa. After about ten minutes of circling the vicinity, they came back together, all with the same report – she was nowhere to be found.

"She'll turn up," said Quistis reassuringly. "It's Rinoa, after all."

"You're right," said Irvine, nodding.

Squall tried to believe his friends for now, but a worrying feeling was stuck in his stomach. He had promised to protect Rinoa – had he failed?

_Failure._

The word almost automatically struck him back to his normal, professional self. They were on a mission to kill Sorceress Ultimecia to save the world from a fate worse than the end.

"We didn't defeat Ultimecia ," said Squall slowly.

"But Squall, look! The sky's returned to its normal colour," said Zell.

"Yeah, that's right!" said Irvine. "Remember Ultimecia partially compressed space and time, and we went to the future? And that future was all dark and gloomy ... the sky was a weird colour, and all the places we knew were gone!"

"So are we in our time now?" asked Quistis.

"Yay, we won!" yelled Selphie, skipping happily.

Squall shook his head. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but just because the sky looks normal doesn't mean we've succeeded. Remember, Ultimecia was casting time compression in the past, present and the future. The only way we could survive it and reverse it is by defeating Ultimecia herself."

"But ... the sky..." Selphie said, trailing off.

"Ultimecia wanted to use time compression to unify the past, present and future into her being – to put all time into a _single _moment," said Squall. "And if she did that, she can recreate the world to be whatever she wants."

"So you're saying ... this is what she recreated?" said Zell, frowning.

"None of us remember what happened," said Squall, nodding. "Face it, we had no hope of winning – we were close to death. There's no way we could have defeated her. We've failed."

"So now ... we're in Ultimecia's ideal world," said Quistis slowly. "The world as we once knew it is gone."

Selphie wailed in dismay. "No, this can't be happening! We're the good guys! We're supposed to win!"

Squall hung his head in shame. Everyone was depending on him ... on _them. _Laguna, Odine, Ellone, the entire world. And he let them down. Why did they entrust such a task to them? Why was _he _the leader of such an important mission? Did anyone even ask him if he _wanted _to save the world? He wasn't even an adult yet, he had his whole life to live – and now he had to live with the burden that he and his friends condemned the universe to a miserable fate – the fate of living in a world controlled by an evil sorceress.

_Rinoa, _thought Squall sadly, _I need you now more than ever. I hope you're all right._

_

* * *

_"Are you ... an angel?" asked Rinoa weakly.

Her vision was slightly blurred, her limbs felt weak, almost as if she had woken from a very long slumber. The handsome blonde man staring over her shook his head at her question, and with that, she could feel herself begin to drift out of consciousness again...

"Wait, wake up," came a male's voice. It was deep and had an emotionless tinge to it that reminded her of Squall...

"Just a few ... more ... minutes ... Squall," murmured Rinoa.

"Wake up, you can't fall out of consciousness – you might go into a coma if you do," said the voice.

_A coma_.

The black memory of nothingness that Rinoa experienced when she was in a coma gripped at her. _Was something a memory if it was nothing...? _she wondered.

"Cure," murmured the man's voice.

Suddenly, Rinoa felt lighter in body and spirit, and the fatigue that plagued her was lifted almost immediately. The pain that ached in her body disappeared, and energy was returning to her. Rinoa sat up and looked around, her vision clearing.

"Where am I?" she asked. It hurt her head to try to remember what happened last.

"You fell from up there," said the blonde man, pointing up. "You were unconscious when I found you."

She appeared to be in a church, one that must have seen better days a long time ago. She sat on a bed of flowers, radiating with colours against the dull scheme of the church.

"Oh ... these flowers broke my fall," said Rinoa.

"Y-Yeah, that's right," mumbled the young man in front of her. "Are you all right now? How did you fall down here? The remains of the plate above Midgar are really dangerous, you shouldn't be up there."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rinoa, confused. "Midgar? What's Midgar?"

The young man raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what Midgar is?"

Rinoa shook her head.

"Do you ... remember anything?" he asked her. "Maybe the fall has impacted your memory. Do you know your name?"

"My memory is fine," said Rinoa, slightly annoyed. "My name is Rinoa Heartilly. The last thing I remember was ... fighting Sorceress Ultimecia with my friends."

"Rinoa Heartilly," mumbled the young man. "Well, at least you remember something. I'm Cloud, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Cloud," said Rinoa. "Thanks for saving me. If you hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead..."

"Don't mention it," said Cloud, waving his hand. "Now you said something about ... Sorceress Ultimecia? Is that some kind of monster?"

"I ... I guess you can say that," said Rinoa slowly. She thought for a moment. If Cloud didn't know who Ultimecia was, did that mean that she and her friends defeated her? Was she back in her own time now?

"Yes ... yes, it's over," said Rinoa.

"What?"

Rinoa looked at Cloud. "Oh, nothing." She grinned at the prospect that they had saved the world after all.

"I'm not sure why you're so happy, but I still don't understand how you can be fighting a monster above this church," said Cloud.

"We weren't fighting above any church," said Rinoa. "We went to..." She paused. He wouldn't have believed her if she said 'the future', and she wasn't in the mood for explaining. "We weren't fighting above a church."

Cloud shrugged. "Well, if you're okay now, I need to go now. It was nice meeting you."

Rinoa smiled. "Nice meeting you too. Thank you again for saving me."

_I always seem to need saving, don't I? _Rinoa thought grimly.

Cloud nodded in response and stood up, turning to leave.

"W-Wait!" Rinoa said suddenly.

Cloud turned around. "Yeah?"

"Can you tell me the way to Esthar?" asked Rinoa. She figured she could manage on her own to Esthar and wait for her companions to return to Laguna and Odine.

"Esthar? Where's that?" asked Cloud.

"Oh no, don't tell me I've wound up in Galbadia," groaned Rinoa.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Cloud. "I've already told you, you're in the Midgar ruins. Just beyond here is Edge. I don't know any place called Esthar or Galbadia."

"W-What?" said Rinoa incredulously. "How can you not know? Esthar and Galbadia are only the two largest super powers in the world! I've been all over the world and I can tell you, I've never been to a place called Midgar or Edge."

"Well _I've _been all over the world too and I say I haven't ever heard of a place called Esthar _or _Galbadia," said Cloud briskly.

Rinoa was rendered speechless. Was this just a dream? It was as if the two of them were from different worlds...

Rinoa gasped suddenly. _No ... it can't be true, _thought Rinoa, _did Ultimecia succeed at completing time compression? Is this the 'new world' that she created?_

"No," murmured Rinoa. "It can't be." She fell on her knees helplessly.

Cloud, unsure of what to do, tried to keep composure. "I'm sorry I can't help you."

* * *

Momentarily, it was as if the sky flashed a blinding white and the world faded, starting anew. Seifer Almasy blinked back the stinging sensation left in his eyes from the impact and realised that his head was throbbing.

_Dammit, _he thought to himself, _I need some water. _He paused and took in his surroundings. The stone walls closed the small bedroom and made the room feel a lot colder than it was. A single-sized bed sat on the two edges of the wall, and adjacent to these walls was a locked mechanical door.

_Why am I here again? _Seifer asked himself for a second. White quickly flashed in his mind. _Oh right, these are my quarters. I guess I dozed off while I was off duty._

Seifer picked up his gunblade, swung it over his shoulder and grabbed his key card sitting on the desk which read "S Knight Seifer Almasy Rank A" next to a photograph of himself, grinning triumphantly, and shoved it in his pocket. He opened the mechanical door and stepped into the grand corridors of Ultimecia Castle, looking around casually.

"Hey, Seifer!" called out a booming voice.

Seifer turned around to find his companions, Raijin and Fujin, dressed in their uniforms approaching him. The uniforms were black and gold and gave off a very elite and regal aura, an aura that was so familiar to him. But Seifer never wore the uniform – he had always thought he looked too much of a pansy in it.

"Hey," greeted Seifer. "Any new missions to do? I'm bored outta my mind. I didn't think being a Sorceress Knight could be boring but I guess I was wrong."

"AFFIRMATIVE," said Fujin.

"There've been reports of a guy who has powers and abilities similar to sorceresses," said Raijin, "but he's _a guy_, ya know? Guys can't be sorceresses!"

"IMPOSSIBLE," bellowed Fujin.

"That's pretty suspicious," said Seifer, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "So what's he been doing? Claiming land and stuff?"

"Not really," said Raijin. "He just seems like a really angry guy, ya know? I think he killed a few people or something when they didn't know the answer to his question, ya know?"

"Right," said Seifer. "I better go investigate this guy. Where was he last sighted?"

"Well, he was first sighted at the Lunar Gate in Esthar, ya know?" said Raijin. "But he's reportedly heading for Esthar City."

"All the way in Esthar!" exclaimed Seifer. "Why aren't there any knights in the area who can take care of this?"

"Uh, well, there were," said Raijin uneasily, "but ... they were killed by this guy, ya know?"

"You're kidding me," said Seifer, flabbergasted.

"Well, they _were _just D and E ranks," said Raijin. "Esthar's supposed to be a low activity area so a lot of the newbies are placed there, ya know? Most of the A and B rank knights are here in Centra or up in Galbadia, where the real action is."

"Amateurs," grumbled Seifer. "All right, I'll take this guy on. I'm up for a challenge."

"You want us to come with you?" asked Raijin.

"Nah, I can handle this on my own," said Seifer. "Just gimme the mission files." Seifer pulled out a small PDA-looking device and held it out to his companions.

Fujin swiped a card through the air over the device, and a soft 'beep' sounded. Seifer opened up the file on his device and briefly read through the details, carefully examining the face of the offender. The grainy picture didn't reveal much about the culprit as it was taken from the side, but the most noticeable thing about him was his long, silver hair.

* * *

"It's all gone," said Rinoa vacantly. "My world has gone." She looked up at Cloud and stood up. "How old are you, Cloud? How long has this planet existed?"

Cloud, quite disturbed and quickly becoming convinced that Rinoa was insane, took a step back from her. "I – what? I'm twenty-three years old and this Planet has existed for millions of years..."

Rinoa suddenly looked more distraught. "Millions of years ... oh no..."

"H-Have you been poisoned by Mako?" asked Cloud slowly. She certainly did show signs of Mako poisoning – delirium, memory loss, confusion ... yet, she could still speak coherently and understand what he was saying. A strange case, maybe?

"I don't know what that is, so I'm going to say no," said Rinoa hurriedly. "Cloud, has anything strange happened lately? Do you have all your memories?" She stopped. "Is the ruler of your country a sorceress?"

"Hey, calm down," said Cloud. "I should be asking if _you _have all _your_ memories. I'm going to take you to a doctor, okay?"

"W-What?" said Rinoa. "But I feel fine! Really! Listen, Cloud, I don't want to alarm you but this world is a lie. You have to help me find my friends so we can change it back!"

"Let me take you to a doctor first," said Cloud. '_This world is a lie' … honestly…_

"No, there's no time!" said Rinoa, "We have to save the world!"

_She's nuts, _thought Cloud.

"You've suffered a bad fall and you reacted weirdly to my Phoenix Down," said Cloud. "Let a doctor look at you first, all right?" It wasn't the entire truth as to why he wanted a doctor to take a look at her, but he didn't want to trigger any more strange rambling from her.

Rinoa groaned in frustration. "Fine, have it your way." She grabbed his arm gently. "But you have to promise to help me look for my friends afterwards. You're ... you're the only one I know in this world."

_Help her, _a voice whispered in his head.

Cloud shook the thought out, wondering where it came from. He sighed.

_I don't have to deal with this, _thought Cloud. _Since when was I a bodyguard service? _

"Please," begged Rinoa.

_Do it._

"All right," said Cloud, almost mechanically.

Rinoa let go of his arm. "Thank you so much, Cloud."

"Come on, let's get going before I change my mind," grumbled Cloud.


	2. Lost

**Chapter Two**

**Lost**

The party of five young warriors were fast approaching Edea's orphanage, hoping that she and Cid were all right. Childhood memories of the past lingered on the walls off the orphanage as they approached it – the smell of the sea, the sound of children's laughter, the feeling of home.

Edea was the closest bet they had to explaining the effects of time compression. But that was only if she was alive.

The orphans walked onto the premises of their old home, feeling no sense of trespass, and called out for their Matron.

"She doesn't seem to be here," said Quistis, when there was no response from their shouting.

"Let's go outside," said Selphie.

As they walked to the yard where they long ago had played, Squall noticed two gravestones that protruded from the centre of the ground. He knew that they were never there before, so he examined the gravestones with interest. His eyes widened when he saw the names.

"_Edea Kramer", _was the first one, and _"Cid Kramer" _was the other.

Squall's companions quickly caught onto this.

"N-No! How can this be?" cried Selphie. "Cid and Edea are dead?"

"I can't believe it," murmured Quistis, wiping a tear from her eye.

"This is bull," said Zell. "What kind of a world _is _this...?"

"A world without SeeD," said Squall quietly. "It's been bothering me for a while. If Ultimecia hated SeeD so much, why did she let us live in her new world? I guess I know now ... even if she killed us, there were more SeeDs out there. SeeDs spread and they grow – into Garden. So she killed off the root of SeeD to make sure it would die forever – she killed Edea and Cid. Then the Gardens won't grow at all."

Irvine groaned. "So ... Balamb, Trabia, Galbadia Garden ... they don't exist? No SeeDs? No students?"

Squall shook his head.

"Nooo! That means we aren't SeeDs anymore!" gasped Selphie. "All that hard work...!"

"Well, at least we weren't expelled," said Zell.

Selphie glared at him.

Squall sighed. A world without SeeD ... that had to mean a world full of Sorceresses, freely exerting their power. He wondered if his colleagues at Balamb Garden had retained their memories at all. No – it couldn't have been possible that the people of the world still had their old memories, otherwise there would be no new world. Then why was it that Squall and his friends still had their memories...? It was just another mystery to add to the list that they had to solve.

"So what should we do now, Squall?" asked Quistis, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

It was one of those rare moments where Squall didn't know what to do. Usually, a good plan could formulate itself in his head when he was faced with a problem – but this problem looked impossible to solve. How were five teenagers going to revert the world alone? How were they going to defeat an evil sorceress, or even _sorceresses_ now, without knowing anything or anyone in this new world? They didn't even have magic anymore...

_We'll have to start from square one, _thought Squall.

_But wait ... why do _we_ have to fix the world? _he thought again. _Why does it always have to be us? Maybe we can't change it ... maybe it's impossible. Maybe we'll just have to start a new, fresh life in this world._

_No, we were the ones who got into this mess, now we have to get out of it, _he rethought. _It's our duty to the world as SeeDs. Or whatever the hell we are now._

"Oh look, I think we have visitors," a strange, female voice said.

The party spun around instantly, their hands on their weapons, ready for combat if a threat called for it. In front of them was a young man and woman – the young woman had caramel coloured hair tied with a pink ribbon and wore a pink dress, and the man had dark spiky hair and a bluish-purplish jumpsuit.

"H-Hey, no need to get feisty!" said the man, holding his hands up.

"Who are you?" demanded Squall, his hand on the hilt of his gunblade. "How do you know this place?"

"W-Whoa, do you guys live here?" asked the man. "We're really sorry, we just..."

"Well, we're ... travellers, I guess," said the woman, "and we saw this place was empty, so we stayed here for a day or two and..."

Squall's stern expression softened. It didn't seem like they meant any harm, but he was still wary. "No. We don't live here, but we used to." His hand fell from the hilt of his weapon, and the others followed his suit.

"S-Sorry," said Selphie, "we're a bit ... jumpy."

"We know how you feel," said the man, breathing a sigh.

"I'm Squall, this is Quistis, Selphie, Irvine and Zell," said Squall, pointing. He might as well befriend these people since they didn't appear to be hostile – maybe they could learn something from them.

"Nice to meet you," said the young woman. "I'm Aerith, and this is Zack."

* * *

"Cloud's back!" chimed Denzel's voice.

Cloud smiled when he heard the sound of two sets of running footsteps thump from inside the new Seventh Heaven and two young children appeared before him before he could even step through the door. He dismounted his motorbike and Rinoa did the same, and Cloud braced himself for the hurricane of the children.

"Cloud, we missed you," said Marlene tearfully, hugging Cloud's leg. "Why did you go away for so long?"

"I made a bit of a side trip," said Cloud apologetically, patting Denzel and Marlene on the head. "But I bought back a visitor for you both. Is Tifa home?"

The two children's eyes darted to Rinoa, who awkwardly stood behind Cloud. She gave a sweet smile and waved.

"I'm Rinoa," she said happily.

"Denzel and Marlene," said Denzel, pointing at himself and Marlene. "Tifa's just inside."

"Great," said Cloud.

Cloud, Rinoa, Denzel and Tifa walked into the bar. Cloud felt relieved to be at home again after his long travels. His old companions had all parted ways to help rebuild their world, which was in severe turmoil after the Meteor fall – Yuffie was an intelligence officer at the World Regenesis Organisation, Cid was also in the WRO as the airship coordinator, Barret was in search of a new energy source for the world, and Nanaki and Vincent went their separate ways by travelling the world on unknown journeys. Tifa, however, was still by his side – she had opened a new bar in Edge and ran a delivery business with Cloud whilst taking care of Marlene and Denzel. Deep down in his heart, Cloud was very grateful for this 'family' he had – it was something he did not really have in his own childhood, and now the togetherness of the children and Tifa gave him a reason to live.

"I'm glad you're back safe," said Tifa, fiddling with something behind the bar.

"Of course," said Cloud sheepishly. "Were you expecting otherwise?"

Tifa laughed quietly. "No, I'm sorry to even suggest it." Her eyes fell on Rinoa curiously. "A friend of yours, Cloud?"

"Hi, I'm Rinoa," said Rinoa nervously. "I'm not exactly a friend of—"

"Tifa, is it all right if you call a doctor to come over?" asked Cloud.

"W-Why?" said Tifa, alarmed. "What's the matter? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," said Cloud. "For Rinoa. It's a long story."

"Really, I think Cloud is being a bit cautious," said Rinoa. "I look fine to you, don't I?"

"Rinoa, there's a bedroom upstairs," said Cloud, before Tifa could answer. "You should get some rest."

Rinoa frowned. "I ... fine." She folded her arms. "But you better remember your promise. Hey Denzel, Marlene – you guys mind giving me a tour of your place?"

"Sure!" said Marlene excitedly. "Okay, this is the guest area..."

Marlene and Denzel led Rinoa away from the bar area, chattering cheerfully, leaving Cloud and Tifa alone.

"So much for rest," mumbled Cloud.

"Hmm, what promise did you make now?" asked Tifa, poking Cloud playfully.

"I didn't promise anything," said Cloud shortly. "Well, this is what happened..."

Cloud proceeded to retell the story of what happened in the church, and how Rinoa did not seem to know anything about the world and how she went on in inane ravings about saving the world when there was nothing to save it from.

"So, I think she's been poisoned with Mako," concluded Cloud. "That, or she's just crazy."

"Right," said Tifa, nodding. "Hmm ... you were at the church again?"

Cloud looked away from her guiltily. He had just told her a story about a mysterious crazy girl and all Tifa could reply with was a guilt trip? "I ... it was just on the way..."

"Cloud ... are you all right?" asked Tifa.

"I'm sorry I went there," said Cloud quickly.

Tifa laughed weakly. "Why are you sorry? I'm not mad that you went to the church. You're such a baby, Cloud."

Cloud felt his face flush but tried to hide it from Tifa. "I ... sorry."

"It's just ... you always go without me," said Tifa. "I thought I told you to take me next time you go."

"I know," said Cloud. He couldn't help but remember the time when he had found Denzel at Aerith's church. Maybe Aerith led Rinoa to Cloud and Tifa as well.

"Well, I'll call a doctor then," said Tifa.

* * *

"So, where are you from?" asked Quistis curiously. "How long have you been travelling?"

Zack and Aerith exchanged nervous glances.

_I have no clue,_ Zack thought to himself, wondering how he was going to get out of this. _I thought we were supposed to be dead. Is this how we've returned to the Planet? Jeez, it sure has changed. This system sure is annoying that no one tells us how life is supposed to be like so we can be normal! _

"We're from, uh, the north," said Zack, nodding. "We've been travelling for a day or two now."

"The north?" asked Zell. "You mean like, still the Centra area or up further north?"

_I don't want to sound like we're from too far away, otherwise we can't have travelled here in a day or two, _thought Zack.

"Um, yeah ... the first one..." said Zack nervously, scratching the back of his head with a laugh.

"Sorry, we haven't had much rest," said Aerith quickly, "we're really tired."

"Right," said Irvine slowly. "Well ... we'll be ... um, going now then."

The awkwardness between them intensified.

"FREEZE!"

_Oh no, more visitors, _thought Zack.

A young man with bright red hair had intruded on them, wearing black and gold clothes and holding a rapier pointing directly at the party. His eyes were narrowed down disapprovingly.

"He's wearing a SeeD uniform," Selphie whispered to Squall.

"What did you say, little girl?" demanded the newcomer.

"Nothing!" said Selphie quickly, but she was clearly fuming about something.

"What are you doing here?" the stranger asked. "This is a forbidden zone. Explain yourselves."

_Great, _thought Zack, _Hopefully these other guys have a good reason that we can steal._

"Forbidden?" said Zell. "What's so forbidden about it?"

_Yeah ... just great, _thought Zack hopelessly.

"This is the property of her Highness Ultimecia," said the stranger. "Lay people aren't supposed to be here. Only knights and sorceresses are authorised to enter this area. Not humans."

"Knights and sorceresses," murmured Quistis.

"So, you haven't a good reason?" said the redhead sternly.

"Hey, aren't you human too?" said Irvine. "Why are you here then?"

"Is that a joke?" said the young man, glaring at Irvine.

"Um ... y-yeah, of course it was," said Irvine with a nervous laugh. "Ha ha, I'm so funny right?"

The stranger's eyes sharpened. "That's it, under the code of the Sorceress Knights, you're all under arrest. Do not resist or I'll have to use brute force."

_And I'm a criminal already, _thought Zack sadly.

* * *

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any traces of Mako in her," said Doctor Cray after examining Rinoa thoroughly. "So it's not Mako poisoning."

"I told you," said Rinoa, glaring at Cloud.

"But I did find something else very strange," said Doctor Cray. "She appears to have a significant amount of Jenova cells in her system."

"What cells?" said Rinoa, confused.

"The Lifestream was contaminated with Jenova cells after Meteor fall – a lot of people have them," said Cloud.

"Yes, but her body has shown no sign of ever having suffered Geostigma," said Doctor Cray. "Meaning, the cells aren't there as a result of contact with the contaminated Lifestream."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rinoa.

"You mean, she was _infused _with Jenova cells before the Geostigma epidemic, like I was?" asked Cloud.

"That seems to be the most likely possibility," said Doctor Cray. "Or ... even worse yet ... she was born with the cells."

"Like Sephiroth," murmured Tifa.

"W-What?" said Rinoa, sounding scared. "I ... I don't know what this is all about, I swear."

"She might be an experiment from Shinra or the WRO," said Tifa.

Rinoa groaned again in frustration for what seemed like the millionth time since she arrived at this place. "I'm _not _an experiment."

"We'll have to call Reeve or Rufus to see what they make of this," said Cloud.

Rinoa plopped herself on the bed, sulking. _They're treating me like some kind of alien, _she thought, missing her friends dearly. She wasn't entirely used to being an outcast yet, but it was this kind of treatment that she had always feared that she would face if the world was to find out she was a sorceress.

"Don't worry, we're just trying to help you," said Tifa, sitting beside Rinoa.

Rinoa looked up at the woman, who was only a little older than she was. Tifa smiled gently, compassion in her eyes. It made Rinoa relax a little, and her sulkiness disappeared – she should have been grateful that someone was kind enough to want to help. After all, Cloud could have easily left her for dead back in the church...

"Thanks," said Rinoa, weakly smiling back. "I appreciate it."

* * *

Seifer strutted out of the castle, twisting the ring of his keys to his vehicle around his index finger and listening to the merry, yet annoying jingling sound it made. The sun shone brightly in a clear blue sky – it was the perfect day to reprimand criminals.

"I won't warn you again, be quiet!" said an approaching voice. "Yeesh, most people _uphold _their right to remain silent."

"Hey, you can't tell me what to do!" said a girl's voice angrily.

Seifer looked up curiously to see a Rank C Sorceress Knight enter the castle grounds, followed by a group of handcuffed young people.

"What's happened with these guys?" asked Seifer as the redhead came closer to him.

"They were caught trespassing at the graveyard house," said one of the Knights.

"_Seifer?" _exclaimed one of the detainees, a teenager with blonde hair and a tattoo on one side of his face.

Seifer cocked his head, not recognising the youth. "How do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously. He might have been a Rank A Sorceress Knight, but he wasn't very famous outside of the Knights themselves.

"You don't remember me?" the tattoo-faced teenager said, aghast. "You don't remember any of us?"

Seifer looked at the bunch, and couldn't hear any bells ringing. "Have I arrested you before or something?"

"W-What? What the hell are you talking about!" said the tattoo-faced youth, firing up.

"These guys are real weird," said the redheaded Rank C.

Seifer scanned across the group, and his eyes fell on one member with chestnut-brown hair and blue eyes. He backtracked when he saw the scar running down his face – it was almost a mirror of Seifer's own scar. Something about him bugged Seifer, but he wasn't sure what it was...

"They seem a bit suspicious to me," said Seifer. "Let me take it from here."

The Rank C complied and left Seifer to deal with the group. He wasn't going to let them off easy – there was something unsettling about their presence, and it caused a strange feeling inside of him that he had never felt before.

hr

"Zack, what've we gotten ourselves into?" whispered Aerith. "How are going to get out of this?"

"Don't worry, Aerith," said Zack in a low voice, "if worse comes to worse – I'll go kung fu and we can bust outta this place."

"All right, I'll start off with your names," said Seifer.

Squall instinctively stepped to the front, ascertaining his position as leader subconsciously. He was certain that Zack's proposition of getting into a fight with Seifer or any of these knights could only lead to more trouble. He was just going to have to try to talk and reason his way out of this.

_Reason with Seifer? I think I've gone insane, _thought Squall.

"You really don't remember us?" said Selphie. "We were in Gard — ouch! _Squall!_"

"Don't say anything about the old world," muttered Squall, elbowing Selphie in the rib cage. "He won't remember. We'll just have to go with this and figure it out from there."

"I asked you a question," said Seifer sternly, "and you'll do well to answer."

"I'm Squall Leonhart," said Squall finally. "And that's..."

As he went through the introductions, Seifer nodded slowly.

"Right, well I definitely don't know you guys," said Seifer, "so don't think you can try to worm your way out of this."

"Listen, Seifer, I think there's been a misunderstanding," said Squall.

"There's no misunderstanding," said Seifer sharply. "Being charged by a knight isn't an invitation to protest in any way. You're all going into custody, so why don't you just make things easier for all of us and come along with me quietly? You don't want to make me hurt you now."

Squall grimaced. _Same old Seifer, up there on his high horse when put into any position of authority._

"I think we're entitled to a trial," said Squall defiantly.

"A _trial_?" said Seifer with a smirk. "Jeez pretty boy, you sure have some crazy ideas. I'm going to ask you one more time to come along with me, or I'll have to resort to _force_."

"Damn you Seifer—!" It had been obvious that Zell was raging more and more with every word that came out of Seifer's mouth. He raised his fists menacingly and punched his fist into the air fiercely, stopping short of actually getting anywhere near hitting Seifer.

"I'll take that as violent resistance to lawful arrest!" said Seifer, furrowing his brow and drawing his gunblade quickly.

"Wha—?" Before Zell could finish his exclamation, Seifer had sliced his blade through the air in Zell's direction sharply, as if to give a warning of what was in store for them if they continued to resist arrest. Zell quickly dodged, the blade barely missing him by inches.

"Hey, what's the deal? You could've killed me!" shouted Zell angrily.

"Your point?" said Seifer with a smirk. "C'mon, you really don't want to know what I can do."

"Why I oughtta...!" Zell was quick to raise his fists and rushed towards Seifer, throwing a punch towards his face in a blind rage.

Seifer, anticipating the attack, dodged the blow which caused Zell to stammer and lose his balance. Seifer was quick to take advantage of the situation, thrusting his blade mercilessly at Zell in what would have been a lethal blow into his back. Luckily for Zell, Squall swiftly unsheathed his gunblade and rushed to Zell's side, blocking the attack with his own blade. The loud clang of metal against metal seemed to echo across the grounds.

"Zell, don't be so reckless," Squall scolded as Zell regained his balance, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly. _He had no idea how close he was to being a messy heap on the ground. I knew Seifer was violent but I never thought he wouldn't hesitate to kill. _"Seifer, stop this. This doesn't need to be hostile."

"Man, you really have some nerve to tell me what to do," snarled Seifer.

Squall kept forgetting that Seifer didn't know who he was. It was just a reflex for him to argue with his rival...

"I warned you – things would turn ugly if you wouldn't come along quietly with me," said Seifer. "And I'm not afraid to kill any of you either – in fact, it'll make my job much easier."

"What the hell?" hissed Selphie angrily.

"Maybe we should do as he says," said Zack uneasily.

Squall's stomach churned. If Seifer really was working for sorceresses and they were captured, there was no way that they would be able to get out ... they wouldn't be able to finish their mission. But what options did they have? Stay quietly and get captured with the possibility of meeting Ultimecia prematurely, or eliminate Seifer and become fugitives anyway? Both routes were not viable. Squall had to think of something else, and he had to think fast...

"You should listen to your friend," sneered Seifer. "I'm giving you one last chance."

_Would Seifer believe us if we told him the truth?_ Squall asked himself. _Would he even help us? I have faith that he's essentially a good person, if not a bit messed up, but..._

"Squall, we can't just give up," whispered Irvine.

_There are seven of us and one of him and we're trained in combat ... we could easily take him out..._

"No way!" said Selphie. "We have a mission!"

_...And why is it my decision again...? _

"Seifer, I'm sure we can reach some kind of agreement—" Squall began.

"Wrong answer!" said Seifer, and without warning he lunged at Squall fiercely, the tip of his gunblade coming right towards abdomen.

Squall parried the attack and raised his own blade automatically in a defensive position. He really didn't want it to come to this...

"Hey, we don't need to fight—"

Seifer rushed up to Squall and dunked his blade in a heavy downwards motion over Squall, to which Squall responded by lifting his blade over the top of his head and defending against the attack. Squall quickly manoeuvred to the side and had no intention of striking, but Seifer took advantage of this and swung his sword across at his foe. Squall ducked, the blade missing him by a hair, and whilst still in a bent position, gripped the ground with his free hand and propelled his right foot forcefully at Seifer's shins. The young blonde fell to the ground. Squall quickly stood up and pointed the tip of his gunblade at Seifer's throat while he was down.

"I _said _we don't need to fight," Squall repeated.

"Yeah! Go Squall!" said Selphie, jumping up and down.

"Where'd you get that gunblade anyway?" asked Seifer. "Only the most trained Knights can wield one."

"I'll answer your questions if we can talk like _civil people_," said Squall shortly.

"I'm not in the mood for talking," said Seifer lazily.

The blonde knight smoothly knocked Squall's gunblade back with his own within a split second by effortlessly swinging his sword in his knocked-down position across his body. In that bare moment that Squall's blade was knocked away from his throat, Seifer jumped to his feet without even having to put his hands on the ground.

"Fine, have it your way," mumbled Squall, taking on an offensive stance. He had fought Seifer numerous times at Garden before and was familiar with Seifer's technique and strategy. Squall had the advantage here because Seifer knew nothing about him.

_It'll be just like old times, _thought Squall.

Squall and Seifer were a fair distance away, so when Squall saw Seifer charging at him, Squall built up his own steam by charging back. Seifer was the first to execute an attack of which Squall blocked against easily, causing them to go into a momentary deadlock of swords. Squall withdrew his blade and made a strike for Seifer's unguarded body, but the blonde had moved, causing Squall to miss entirely.

As Squall regained his composure and turned around, Seifer held out his hand and beckoned Squall to come at him with a confident smirk.

_Clash. Clang. Clash._

The sound of metal against metal rang repetitively, the two fighters going at each other with facial expressions that barely suggested any effort was being put into the battle. The spectators were getting restless, as it didn't even look like anybody was going to win.

Feeling a slight sense of déjà vu, Squall could predict how Seifer would act next. Luckily for Squall, Seifer couldn't play dirty this time by using magic, seeing as how magic was non-existent in this world. Acting accordingly, Squall made a move for Seifer's slight opening in his stance.

"_Ugh_," cried Seifer, as Squall slashed through the shoulder of his jacket, causing a shallow flesh wound. His white trench coat slowly began to soak in crimson blood, but Seifer tried to take no note of it.

Squall could have easily completely amputated Seifer's entire arm but there was something in Squall that was making him hold back – he didn't really want to hurt Seifer too badly, he just wanted to make a point.

But the blonde fighter stood firm in position and showed no sign of backing down. He suddenly jumped high into the air. Seifer was momentarily airborne as he concentrated his form on his gunblade, wielding it into a cross shape in the air. Squall, unsure of what to expect, suddenly felt the earth move as flames appeared on the ground in the cross shape that Seifer had drawn in the air. Before he could react, the flames had run up to the middle of the cross where Squall was standing, and an intense light suddenly radiated from Seifer's gunblade to the ground.

_He's quick to use his Limit, _thought Squall fleetingly, before the flames engulfed him and the light pierced his body. It was almost as if the ground shattered beneath his feet, and Squall felt a searing pain rip across his body in combination with a nauseating feeling of falling rapidly.

The light and flames disappeared, and Squall was in a slight daze. He tried to regain momentum, but as soon as his vision was fixed, Seifer was dashing right at him with his gunblade pointed in such a way that he was going to deliver the finishing blow.

Squall quickly raised his gunblade to defend, but he was still dazed from Seifer's overwhelming attack. That, and the fact that he had not regained his strength from the miserable battle against Ultimecia, made his feet falter. His defence was rendered useless as Seifer struck—

_Pain._

Squall staggered, and he felt his gunblade fall out of his hands helplessly and onto the ground loudly. His eyes widened at the impact and he looked down at his chest with whatever little strength he had left, only to see Seifer's blade completely impaling him through the chest. The pain was inconceivable, a pain he had never once felt before, as his shirt reddened and he could almost feel the blood throbbing in his veins, only to leak out of his body uncontrollably.

_He actually did it ... he didn't hesitate to kill me..._

Seifer pulled out his blade, the movement making Squall want to roar in agony. But the snide look of triumph on Seifer's face was enough for Squall's pride to overtake his pain, and he made barely any sound as he clutched at his chest before helplessly falling to the ground.

"SQUALL!" shouted all his companions at once.

He could barely hear them, but the ground reverberated with their fast approaching footsteps. All Squall wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep ... sleep forever ... and maybe the pain would stop...

Seifer turned around menacingly at the other group members. "Who's next?" he roared with a laugh.

"You BASTARD!" shouted Zell angrily, rushing up towards Seifer with his fists held high. "He didn't even want to fight you! He was holding back! And you wanna know why? Because we were all childhood friends and he has a _conscience, _you fu—"

"Zell, stop it!" said Quistis warningly, as she and Irvine pulled Zell back away from Seifer.

"Childhood friends?" said Seifer with a smirk of disbelief. "You guys just don't _get it. _I don't _know _you. He wasn't holding back, he was just _weak_. Now, are you all going to take me on or can we save some sweat here?"

"Are you kidding, we're not leaving Squall here to die!" shouted Selphie, who was bent over Squall. She was rummaging through her pockets but it seemed that she had run out of healing items. "Oh Squall, what are we going to do?" Tears began to well up in her eyes. "We ... we have to take you to a doctor!"

"There's no way we'd make it in time," said Zack, shaking his head.

"There's not a doctor around here who'll help you criminals," said Seifer spitefully. "So take it like a man and die quietly."

"I didn't think you'd go this far, Seifer!" shouted Zell furiously, "I knew you were low but—"

"Zell, _stop_," scolded Quistis. "Fighting with Seifer isn't going to help Squall..."

"It's only if we take this bastard down that we'll be able to get out of here and find help!" said Zell, raising his fists. "Or are we just going to let Squall die?"

"Oh, another challenger?" said Seifer, raising his gunblade keenly.

Zell charged up to Seifer without hesitation, concentrating so much energy into his fist that it began to glow...

Everyone's voices began growing dim in Squall's ears as he began to drift out of consciousness. _Typical Seifer ... only he could cause an argument big enough for everyone to fight while I'm here bleeding to death..._

"Squall, are you okay?"

_I could have sworn that was Rinoa talking..._

"Not really," mumbled Squall.

The outline of Aerith's face lingered over his own. He wondered how she could remain so calm compared to the others, as not even a phoenix down could bring him back if he was lost now...

"Did you know this was how I died?" whispered Aerith.

"W-What...?" said Squall, wondering if he was hearing correctly.

"I said you aren't going to die," said Aerith, slightly louder.

Aerith clasped her hands together with her eyes closed, as if she were praying for Squall's soul.

* * *

The doctor had left the bar and Cloud was out preparing for the trip to the WRO headquarters, where Rinoa was told she would meet someone who could 'help' her. After numerous protests from Rinoa of which were dismissed entirely by Cloud, she finally agreed to come along. Perhaps these authoritative figures knew something about what had happened to the world, and could help her piece the puzzle together of where and when she was. If she was lucky, she might meet her friends somewhere...

Rinoa was helping Tifa wash the dirty dishes that the customers of the bar had left that day. As much as she hated chores, she couldn't help but feel lucky to run into people who took her in and were willing to help her ... perhaps it was fate...

"So how long have you been married to Cloud for, Tifa?" asked Rinoa.

Tifa blushed slightly, but continued to wash the dishes as if the question wasn't a big deal. "Oh, we aren't married."

"Huh?" said Rinoa. "Really? So whose kids are Denzel and Marlene?"

Tifa laughed the question off. "Oh come on, do I really look that old?"

Rinoa blushed. "Oh, that's not what I meant..."

Tifa smiled, shaking her head forgivingly. "No, I was kidding. I get it a lot. Those kids are orphans, and Cloud and I look after them. So, we're kind of like a family – but not really."

Rinoa nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. My friends are all orphans, but they're just like a big family."

"What about you?" asked Tifa.

"Hmm," said Rinoa vacantly, "my mother was killed in a car accident. And my father ... well ... I'm not on very good terms with him." She sighed. "But ... either way, I don't know where he is. And it doesn't seem like I'll be able to see him any time soon..."

"What do you mean?"

Rinoa sighed heftily. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Ah, don't worry, Cloud's already told me," said Tifa.

Rinoa frowned. "Oh, that sucks ... I didn't even get a chance to look like a lunatic in front of you."

Tifa laughed nervously. "I don't think you're a lunatic. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for everything."

"I already know the explanation," said Rinoa. "An evil sorceress compressed time and created a new world. I'm either lost in time, or this is the new world she's created and I'm the only one who seems to remember."

Tifa didn't reply and continued to wash the dishes.

"See, I knew it," said Rinoa, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "_I_ wouldn't believe me either if I was you. But if I really am crazy ... can I stay with you guys until I meet someone who recognises me? I know it's a lot to ask but I'll work for you and everything ... I'll kind of be like the third orphan you took in. A bit of a big orphan..."

Tifa giggled. "Oh Rinoa, you're not that crazy. Don't say things as if it's the end. Cloud said he would help you find your friends, didn't he? He must have a good reason for helping you. If he's helping you, I'll do my best too."

Rinoa smiled. "Thanks, Tifa."

_But I don't know if it will be enough, _thought Rinoa.

* * *

Seifer saw Zell's attack coming and estimated that he would not be able to attack in time, so he quickly raised his gunblade up to defend. The great glowing punch was more powerful than he expected, and even though Zell had punched his sword, Seifer still staggered a bit from the forceful impact. Seifer recouped as quickly as he could, but was instead met with a series of kicks to his abdominal area.

"You little..." Seifer was able to dodge the final kick, and taking advantage of Zell's opening, he raised his gunblade to strike his opponent down.

"...Healing wind..."

Before Seifer could bring his blade down, he noticed Aerith kneeling over Squall, not too far away from where Seifer and Zell were fighting. Her eyes were closed and her hands were clasped together, but a strange gust of wind that seemed only to be present where she was kneeling swept around her, wisping her hair gently. Sparkling blue light emanated from between her clasped hands and fell onto Squall's body.

Seifer, confused, lowered his blade and walked away from Zell to investigate what was going on.

"Hey! You can't just walk away from a fight like that!" growled Zell, staring after him.

Squall, who had previously been in a state of bordering death, gasped for breath suddenly and shot up from his lying-down position. His hands ran over his abdomen in surprise, before pulling up his blood-soaked shirt to examine his bare muscular chest. To Seifer's astonishment, the wound where Seifer had stabbed him was completely healed, barely even leaving a scar.

"Aerith ... you healed me," said Squall, sighing a deep sigh of relief. "Th-thank you..."

"Oh, Squall!" cried Selphie, "I thought you were a goner!" She flung her arms around Squall's neck tearfully, to which Squall could only bear a nervous smiling-like expression before pulling the girl off of him.

"Aerith saves the day again," said Zack with a laugh, putting his arm on Aerith's shoulder.

"You ... you did magic," said Seifer, his smooth control over the English language suddenly waning. This changed everything...

"Magic," murmured Squall, his relieved expression gradually clouding.

Seifer quickly bent down on one knee before Aerith, burying his forehead into his forearm, his other hand bearing his lowered gunblade.

"Forgive me!" said Seifer loudly. "I had no idea you were a sorceress ... Lady Aerith."

All eyes were on Aerith at that very moment, whose face was so delicate that the only expression that could have been drawn was confusion.


	3. Another Place

**Chapter Three**

**Another Place**

The laboratory was clamoured and stuffy, as if someone had turned the heating on to maximum capacity. Strange gadgets and bundles of papers were haphazardly placed around the room, and it was amazing that the light bulbs hadn't burnt out yet after such long hours of use. The Doctor was hurriedly working on his machine, wary of the time constraints that were dangerously closing in on him.

Ellone sat on the examination table, swinging her legs like an impatient child, watching the Doctor anxiously. She wondered what he was going to ask her to do next – she was almost becoming used to the strange things he instructed her to do, like procuring her memories and imagining what the future would be like.

Laguna, for once, failed to bear his trademark grin and was actually pacing around the room nervously. Ellone somewhat regretted sending his mind back to the past – it had made him very edgy and pessimistic. But, she couldn't help it – when she found him, he, like everyone else in the world, seemed to have false memories implanted in his head about the world and what it should have been like. She _had_ to send him back to the past, the _real _past – he was one of the only people who could help undo what Ultimecia had done.

"Goddammit, how many days have we be stuck in here?" said Laguna impatiently.

"Don't complain," snapped Doctor Odine impatiently, not turning away from his work. "You're free to leave venever you like, but you vill face the consequences. Remember, it was _you _who hadn't thought of a plan B in case Squall failed!"

"Don't remind me, Doctor," said Laguna, frowning disapprovingly. "I'm sure none of us anticipated that this would happen. But my confidence in Squall still stands. I just hope he and everyone else is all right..."

"I'm sure they're fine," said Ellone confidently. "Let's just focus on the task at hand."

"Right," said Laguna. "So, we know that the time compression wasn't completely successful – otherwise Ultimecia wouldn't be asking you to build the time machine, right?"

"Correct," said Odine. "My theory is zat Squall and his friends were able to halt ze casting of ze time compression spell to a degree, and perhaps disturbed ze spell. It is incomplete. And as we all know, for time compression to occur, ze spell must be cast from ze past, present and future. Now, Ultimecia's spell must have been corrupted in either ze past – where Squall is – or ze future. And now Ultimecia needs me to build ze machine so zat she can travel freely through time to fix ze spell."

"So right now, time is compressed but not to the degree that Ultimecia wants it to be, right?" said Laguna.

"Correct," said Odine. "Time compression by its very nature means zat ze past, present and future is frozen in a single moment so that Ultimecia can create ze world she vants. Obviously, everything she vanted has not occurred."

Ellone sighed. The explanations were more confusing every time she heard them.

"Well, life is pretty bad already – I wonder how she can make it any worse," said Laguna bitterly. "Sorceresses dominating the world and oppressing the humans ... is this revenge for what the humans did to Hyne so long ago?"

"Zat is just a legend!" snapped Odine, deeply offended that Laguna could even suggest such a possibility.

"Legends have some truth behind them," said Ellone.

"How'd that story go again?" asked Laguna.

"That's an easy one, I used to hear it on the White SeeD ship all the time," said Ellone with a smile, memories of the past flooding back to her. "The creator of all things, Hyne, was becoming tired after creating the world. So, he created some tools that would help him continue the building of the world – these tools were humans. He went into a deep sleep after that, and when he awoke, he found the world to be very advanced and the humans had become very clever."

"Oh I remember how it goes now," said Laguna, nodding. "He also found that there were too many people in the world, so he took away some of the humans' children, right?"

"Yes, he killed the children," said Ellone. "And the humans became very angry, of course. So, the humans decided to wage a war against Hyne. They didn't have magic, but they were smart – and Hyne began to lose the war."

"And then he wanted peace?" said Laguna.

"That's right," said Ellone. "He cut half of his body and gave it to the humans as a peace offering. The humans fought over the body, thinking it had powers – but then they realised it was useless, and Hyne had kept the powers for himself. The humans were really mad and tried to hunt down Hyne, but he had disappeared. So instead, they hunted his children – the sorceresses. And to this day, they still do."

Odine made a noise that resembled a combination of a snort and a disbelieving laugh.

"Well, that explains why Ultimecia would want to make humans the oppressed ones," said Laguna. "Ya know, since humans have been persecuting and hunting down the sorceresses for millennia."

"It would also explain why she destroyed your Guardian Force junction system, Doctor Odine," said Ellone. "She doesn't want anyone opposing the sorceresses and she doesn't want anyone but sorceresses to have magic."

"Don't talk about my creation so openly," snapped Odine, "I am still mourning for it!"

"You can always invent it again?" suggested Laguna.

"Ha!" said Odine, rolling his eyes. "Do you know how many years it took to create such a fine system? And with zat witch Ultimecia is keeping us captive in zis city, how am I supposed to conduct my research in ze field?"

"I'm still confused though, Doctor," said Ellone, breaking up the argument between Odine and Laguna. "Isn't creating a time machine what Ultimecia _wants_? Why are we listening to her? If she has the time machine, she'll be able to _fully _compress time..."

"Because ve have to trick her if ve want to defeat her," said Odine, after a long glare at Laguna. "And it is a very, _very _difficult thing to trick Ultimecia."

"Ellone, haven't we been through the plan before?" asked Laguna.

"Yes, but ... there's too much to remember," murmured Ellone. "This time compression business is pretty tricky."

"I know what you mean," said Laguna, rubbing his temples.

"Ve have to trick Ultimecia to think zat ve have no idea of ze old, uncompressed world," said Odine. "I'm vorking to make ze time machine transport actual physical matter through time and space, rather zan just people's consciousness as you do, Ellone. But Ultimecia does not know zis – she thinks I'm simply creating a machine zat can put a person's consciousness in a certain time frame."

"Oh right, because she wants her own consciousness in the future to cast the spell," said Ellone. "I remember now. The plan is to get Uncle Laguna to physically go to the past so that he can help Squall and the others defeat past-Ultimecia. And we're doing that because we don't know where Squall is _here right now_, and _we _have no fighting chance against Ultimecia. So, if we kill the Ultimecia in the past, she'll cease to exist in this world and everything will go back to normal. Right?"

"...Ellone, you said that in the most confusing way possible but yes, that's the plan," said Laguna.

"But _Doctor," _argued Ellone, "I said this before and I said it again – that plan won't work! You can't change the past no matter how hard you try – you can't just rewrite history. I learned that the hard way."

"Zat is what _you _think, Ellone!" said Odine. "We know zat Ultimecia used my time machine to travel to ze past to control Edea, Adel and Rinoa to do her bidding. Zat must have significantly altered time – I bet you zat if she had not done zat, ze future would be very different. Therefore, it _is _possible to change history. However, ze machine could only send consciousness back to ze past and only a sorceress would have ze power to do anything significant in that way. We humans can do nothing via consciousness, as you have experienced through bringing Squall's consciousness back to Laguna's past. Zat means we must create a machine zat _can _allow us to alter history significantly – through a time machine zat can transport physical objects! That way, we can defeat Ultimecia!"

"Y-yes," said Ellone weakly, "but even so, you can't escape _fate. _Maybe it was fate that Edea and Adel and Rinoa were controlled. Time and fate are different things. We can't rewrite what's already set in stone! Everything is inevitable!"

Odine snorted. "_Fate _indeed! Ellone, I am a scientist! Fate is another fairytale to make everyone feel better about their problems. It has no place in science, and it has no place in zis plan. If ve vant to win, ve play by ze rules of science – not by ze rules of _fate."_

Ellone opened her mouth to protest, but there was no way Odine would even consider her opinion. She had a sinking feeling about this plan – it could only lead to disaster. Fate _did _play a part – everyone was a child of fate, and time was written so that all events were inevitable, no matter what anybody did.

But there was a part of her that wanted to side with Odine. At least he had a plan to restore the world – and that was what she wanted most, the world returning to normal. She had met plenty of sorceresses in her lifetime, but something about Ultimecia was particularly fearsome. Perhaps it was because she was the time compressor, the one who had distorted the world with the power of her fingertips, and now she was the ruler of the new world – a world that was under her control in every aspect. She admired Laguna's courage for thinking that it would be the three of them – Odine, Laguna and herself, the only ones left in the world who knew the truth – that will be able to bring down Ultimecia and change the world back. But she somehow had the feeling that the three of them weren't enough. Even with Odine's science, her power, and Laguna's leadership, they needed more.

_A lot more, _thought Ellone sadly.

* * *

Rinoa gazed out the window of the car, mesmerised by the world around her as the trio were on the way to the WRO HQ. Cloud said that he wouldn't mind taking Rinoa on his own and that Tifa should continue running the bar, but Tifa insisted on accompanying him, saying that she wanted to meet up with their old friends at the WRO again. Cloud eventually agreed, saying that the kids were more than capable of looking after themselves and they would only be gone for less than a day anyway.

Rinoa observed the area surrounding Edge carefully. She had been too distracted before when Cloud took her from the church to Tifa's bar to notice how the world looked, but now she was sure that the world she once knew was left behind. Her new surroundings looked relatively quiet and not too different to the old world, but something didn't _feel _the same – there was a different aura in the air, and her mind and body felt lighter than usual. Somehow, even the smell seemed unusual.

And the area around Edge, the ruins of Midgar, which she had never heard of, was so dark and barren, and the people seemed tired and depressed. The sky appeared to be of a permanently grey colour, with the sun barely peeping through the clouds for a little light.

"What happened to this area?" asked Rinoa curiously.

Tifa, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, glanced at Cloud, who was driving otherwise he would get motion sickness. Tifa's look said something along the lines of 'Does she really not know?' Cloud's expression didn't falter, so Tifa turned around to explain to Rinoa, who sat patiently in the backseat.

"A few years ago, someone tried to destroy our planet by summoning a black magic spell called Meteor," said Tifa. "We were able to stop it from destroying the world, but it had a really bad impact on the Planet, especially this area. It left a huge city in ruins and killed a lot of people, and a disease spread across the world."

"Meteor?" repeated Rinoa. "That doesn't sound so dangerous. I think I've got some stocked actually. I drew some from—"

"_What?" _interjected Tifa, gaping at Rinoa.

"Nothing," said Rinoa with a sigh. "At least you saved something. Continue."

"Well, now the world's slowly recovering," said Tifa. "The World Regenesis Organisation was founded by our friend Reeve, who used to be a part of this huge power called Shinra. Shinra drained the world of its energy sources and it's kind of their fault that the world's like this, but they're repaying their debt by helping the WRO."

"And that's where we're going now?" said Rinoa. "How much further is it?"

"The old Shinra building used to be in Midgar," said Tifa. "But it's in ruins now. The new WRO HQ is in Junon, which is about another two hours drive away."

"Wow, this sure is quite a length you're going to so you can help me out," said Rinoa. "But I assure you, you're wasting your time ... there's nothing wrong with me. I really doubt these Shinra WRO people will know anything about me."

"It's just to be safe," said Cloud. "They might be able to help you."

"Unlikely," said Rinoa with a yawn.

Just then, a loud _bang _hit the roof of the car and Cloud halted the vehicle suddenly, causing Rinoa to almost fall out of her seat. Rinoa looked up and saw a Wendigo jump from the roof of the car, and a few others quickly came out from the wilderness and formed a circle around the car.

"Just great," mumbled Cloud, switching off the ignition and grabbing his huge sword from the floor of the backseat. "Looks like we'll have to fight them off before we can go anywhere. Rinoa, stay inside."

His tone almost reminded Rinoa of Squall, barking orders at her to stay put in times of danger so that she wouldn't get hurt … or get in the way. Was it universal that she would be deemed useless and just another pretty face that needed protecting? Did she really give off the aura that everything was just a game to her and she wasn't serious about anything? These very thoughts fired up a passion inside of Rinoa and gave her the urge to prove herself as more than a damsel in distress – she was useful, and she could fight too.

Cloud burst open the door with his sword and Tifa soon followed, her fists held high and a fiery look in her eyes.

Rinoa watched as Cloud tore into one of the Wendigos with his sword, piercing its tough skin and causing silverly liquid to ooze out of its body like blood. He dodged a powerful punch by the monster, and it instead hit the side of the car, creating a huge hole in the driver's door. Whilst the monster was trying to recoup, Cloud hacked into its back multiple times whilst Tifa delivered a series of kicks and punches to it.

"Watch out!" shouted Rinoa, as two of the other Wendigos ripped their claws into Tifa whilst she had her back turned to them. She winced in pain, but quickly regained composure and did a violent somersault, knocking both her attackers to the ground. She quickly cured herself from the wounds in her back and signalled at Cloud.

Cloud lowered his giant blade in a horizontal position and Tifa ran towards him, gaining momentum, and jumped onto the enormous sword, lifting from her left foot off the blade and onto the high shoulders of the Wendigo. Her fists clenched into tight balls, she strung a chain of violent blows into the side of the Wendigo's head. The sound of its skull being crushed was almost audible.

Rinoa knew this could have been finished much quicker – she knew that physical attacks were not enough to finish off the Wendigos. She jumped out of the car and climbed onto the roof where the monsters couldn't reach her, and scanned her mind for the presence of her GF so she could cast some magic.

"Rinoa, get back inside!" yelled Tifa, jumping off the Wendigo's shoulders.

Rinoa didn't even hear Tifa as she tried to search herself for the GF. When she called out the names of the Guardians she was familiar with in her mind, she was slightly disturbed when she received no response. It was as if they had deserted her completely, without leaving the slightest trace. Why had she not noticed that they were gone before...?

As a usual nervous reflex, Rinoa's hand reached for the rings hanging on the chain around her neck. She closed her eyes and concentrated even harder on finding her Guardian Forces – maybe they were hiding somewhere deep in her consciousness...

_Griever, Squall's great lion, _thought Rinoa, fingering the bumpy patterns on Squall's duplicate ring. _Full of pride and full of power – if only you could guide me..._

Almost instantly, an unfamiliar presence crept into her thoughts. The presence was overwhelming and somewhat frightened Rinoa at first, but she was bold enough to accept its residence inside of her.

_Who are you? _thought Rinoa.

_I am Griever, _a booming voice rung in her mind. _I've been watching over you._

Rinoa, confused, wondered how the unknown Guardian Force had been watching over her. She could not recall ever acquiring such a GF ... unless ... it was hidden in Squall's ring the whole time, and it was subconsciously drawn when Rinoa unintentionally called for its help.

She noticed in her peripherals that one of the Wendigos charging at her from afar, and cast a third-degree lightning spell, burying all her confusion of where Griever had come from under the heat of battle.

"THUNDAGA!" shouted Rinoa with her arms thrust forward, and a raging blow of electricity escaped from her fingertips and enshrouded the beast. The Wendigo roared in pain and fell face-forward onto the ground, smoking.

Rinoa turned to another Wendigo, drew a Berserk spell from it and directly cast it onto another Wendigo. She watched as the mysterious red light was drawn from the drawee monster and infused into the target. The target immediately went berserk, and Rinoa piled on her own Confuse spell on it. It then began pulverising its own ally to death.

Before long, the pack of Wendigos was defeated by Cloud and Tifa's melee attacks and Rinoa's magic. Rinoa didn't even feel tired – maybe she was finally used to the heat of battle.

"That was amazing, Rinoa," said Tifa, taking off her gloves. "I didn't know you were such a great spell caster."

Rinoa beamed in delight and jumped off the roof of the car, which had an enormous dent in it from where the Wendigo had jumped.

Cloud sheathed his sword and walked towards Rinoa. "What was that thing you did that made it go berserk? How did you take magic from the monster?"

"What do you mean 'how'?" said Rinoa, "How else! By drawing, of course."

"Drawing?" asked Tifa. "You can draw magic from monsters? Is that by using some kind of Materia?"

"Um ... no?" said Rinoa, raising her eyebrows confusedly.

"Then how is it possible that you can cast magic without Materia?" asked Cloud.

"By drawing magic, as I said," said Rinoa. "Once I draw from a monster or a draw point, I can store the magic in my body and cast it later."

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other worriedly.

"The WRO can answer all of our questions," said Tifa finally.

"But it's not like we'll be getting anywhere soon," said Cloud, frowning at the poor state of the car. "Better call Reeve so he can send out someone to get us, otherwise we'll have to walk."

"B-But you said it was a two hour drive," said Rinoa. "We'll never get there if we _walk_."

"We have no choice," said Cloud.

_How about I just give up right now? _thought Rinoa helplessly, missing her friends more and more.

* * *

"I'm a sorceress?" said Aerith in horror.

"You're a sorceress?" exclaimed Selphie incredulously.

Seifer raised an eyebrow at Selphie suspiciously, but didn't say anything.

_This woman is a sorceress and Seifer is in a gang called the Sorceress Knights who wear SeeD uniforms whilst SeeD doesn't even exist_, thought Squall, alarms ringing off in his head as he watched the scene play out. It seemed like a nightmare. _This can't be good._

"Of course she's a sorceress," said Squall abruptly, glaring at Selphie warningly. He stood up so that he was level with the rest of his friends, and Aerith followed suit. "We tried to tell the guy who captured us but he wouldn't listen."

"But Squall—" began Selphie, but Squall elbowed her in the ribs to stop her from blowing their cover. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this shenanigan, but he had to avoid trouble at all costs. Squall and his party were the weak ones in this world – they were no longer elite fighting SeeDs whom everyone looked up to, they were nobodies without any power or knowledge in the world. And especially since Ultimecia was the ruler, they were in no way prepared to face her again – they had to keep a low profile. And they were just about free if they could wriggle out of this...

But Seifer seemed even more suspicious, not buying a single word of Squall's story. "So how is it that you know she's a sorceress? Judging by Lady Aerith's reaction, she didn't even seem to know it herself. Come to think of it, why is it that I've never heard of you, _Lady Aerith?_"

"Well, that's because her powers aren't fully developed," lied Squall quickly, "Aerith – _Lady _Aerith – didn't want to publically announce that she'd recently inherited sorceress powers until she could control them. I was her, uh, confidant – but if we're going to be pressed with criminal charges, and if you're gonna be here trying to kill us, I only think that revealing her secret now is the best option to avoid any serious consequences."

_I sure hope that's how it works, _thought Squall.

"I see," said Seifer, the suspicion not clearing in his face just yet. "And why would _you _be her confidant? You're nobody."

"Well, all of us are her servants," said Quistis, when Squall was trying to think of an answer. "And Squall here, well, he was a close friend of Lady Aerith when she was human. And um, now he wants to enlist to become a Sorceress Knight someday. Isn't that right, Squall?"

_Sure, why not?_ thought Squall, nodding.

"All right then," said Seifer slowly. "Well ... if that's the case, I don't see any reason not to let you all go. I don't have time to deal with this anyway – I've got to get to Esthar."

_Esthar, _thought Squall, _So it still exists. That's where Laguna and Odine were – maybe they're still there. If they're alive... _

"W-Wait," said Squall. "Lady Aerith and her entourage would like to head there. Is it possible for you to arrange something for us?"

"What the hell do I look like, a travel agent?" snapped Seifer. "Go organise your own goddamn holidays!"

Zack nudged Aerith, who stepped forward reluctantly.

"Please, Sir Knight," said Aerith calmly. "It's important that we get there as soon as possible, and I think you're the only person who'll be able to get us there quickly. I kindly request it." She smiled sweetly, a brilliant smile that somehow reminded Squall of Rinoa.

It seemed Seifer was also affected by Aerith's flossy demeanour – or maybe it was because it was his duty to obey a sorceress in this world. "F-Fine. I guess you all can board a ship from the port with me. But we can't all get on my bike to get there – I'll have to arrange a car to take us to the port town. Wait here while I do it."

"Thank you so much," said Aerith, smiling warmly.

As Seifer turned on his heel and headed away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jeez, nice save Squall," said Irvine, tipping his hat. "You too, Quisty."

Squall ignored Irvine's compliment - he wasn't as relieved as his companions just yet. He swiftly pulled out his gunblade and pointed the tip at Aerith's neck threateningly, an icy gaze falling on the warm young woman.

"H-HEY!" said Zack angrily, reaching for his sword instinctively – only to find that he didn't have one. "What are you doing? Aerith just saved all of you! And she saved _your life_, Squall!"

"Squall, what are you doing, man?" said Irvine, shocked.

"Who are you really?" said Squall unfeelingly, keeping his stare firm on Aerith. "Are you really a sorceress? If you are, then why the hell are you helping us? And how can you _not _know you're a sorceress anyway? I always thought there was something weird about you two, but you can't hide any longer. We need to know."

_I can't say I know much about this new world either, _thought Squall, _but I've deducted enough from our new surroundings to conclude that there is definitely something odd about these two. _

Aerith, who looked terrified when Squall was making his demand with a blade at her neck, breathed a long sigh and smiled weakly. The gesture caught Squall off guard, but he showed no sign of it.

"All right, we'll tell you the truth," said Aerith. "But I can't promise that you'll believe us."

Squall lowered his blade slightly. "We're listening."

"Well, Squall," said Aerith slowly, "remember how I said – 'this is how I died' when Seifer stabbed you?"

"I thought you said 'you aren't going to die'", said Squall, furrowing his brow.

Aerith shook her head and continued. The party leaned in closely to the two newcomers to hear their story of a foreign world, one that was beyond their imagination and beyond what they had expected from time compression.


	4. Shooting Stars

**Chapter Four**

**Shooting Stars**

"Ah! It has progressed faster than I had anticipated!" said Odine in delight.

"You've finished the time machine already?" said Laguna, standing up from his chair and rushing over to the professor.

"Not quite complete, but I think I can take a shortcut and put it into BETA mode now," said Odine. He pointed at the Junction Machine Ellone, a large white capsule-like object the size of a man, with a glass window in the front and wires protruding from it and leading into numerous sockets. The machine was made to mimic Ellone's brain waves and patterns.

"Oh," said Laguna, disappointed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's test this baby out."

"So what's the plan again?" asked Ellone. "Do I need to do anything?"

"No, you needn't do anything zis time," said Odine. "I just vant to see if it turns on! And zen we can send someone's consciousness to Squall's past to see what happened when he encountered Ultimecia, just as a test. With zat information, we will know what to do next."

"Wait, so we've been in here for _how _long – and you've only _just _made a power button?" exclaimed Laguna.

"You fool, do you know how delicate and difficult zis project is?"argued Odine. "Such a project should take years to complete, but I have done it in a matter of months!"

"All right, all right," said Laguna, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"So you're going to send someone's consciousness back to Squall's past," said Ellone. "But we don't need a machine to do that. I can do that for you."

"Yes I know zat, but ze whole point is to see if _my _machine _works_," said Odine. "Once ve send someone to see Squall's past via my machine, ve vill do ze same thing via your power to see if it vas correct. And if it is correct, we can zen proceed vith my plan to _physically _send someone to Squall's past to foil Ultimecia before she finds out we've been deceiving her."

"C'mon, enough chit-chat, let's just see if that thing works now," said Laguna.

Odine rolled his eyes and walked over to a complicated-looking switchboard. He flipped a few switches and pushed a few buttons as Laguna and Ellone watched in anticipation.

The capsule-like time machine began to whirr and beep. The glass door was closed, but steam had begun to build up, clouding the view of what was inside. The lights on top of the machine lit up and turned off repeatedly. And then...

...Silence.

The machine ceased its noisiness and lighting activity.

"That's _it_?" said Laguna. "Did anything happen?"

Odine's expression was difficult to read. "Hmm. Curious indeed."

"What? What?" asked Laguna.

"Vell, I ... think it vorked," said Odine.

Laguna's face dropped, and Ellone laughed at her uncle's expression.

"Ve just need a test subject to send back in time now," said Odine. "Any volunteers?"

"I'm not gonna be your guinea pig, I'm too valuable!" said Laguna.

"Oh shut it, Ellone and I are far more valuable zan you," said Odine. "Get in ze machine."

"Then why did you ask for volunteers if you were gonna force me to go..." said Laguna sulkily.

"GET IN!" shouted Odine, pointing at the machine.

Laguna sighed, knowing that he had no choice, and walked towards the white capsule. He prepared himself and grabbed the handle of the glass door, opening it slowly. As he did so, Ellone suddenly shrieked and Laguna jumped back, startled – a human body fell out of the machine and onto the floor in front of the ex-president, lying limply and helplessly.

"W-What the!" stuttered Laguna, shocked, but at the same time relieved that he didn't have to be Odine's lab rat anymore.

Laguna knelt down and turned the body around – it was a woman with long, brown hair tied into a high ponytail. Her skin was porcelain-like but pale, her eyes firmly closed, she wore a string of white pearls around her neck, and a pale long bluish-whitish dress.

"VERY intriguing," was all Odine had to say.

"Where ... am ... I...?"

"She's awake!" exclaimed Ellone.

The woman sat up, holding her head with her eyes closed.

"Are you all right?" asked Laguna. "What's your name?"

"My name is ... Lucrecia Crescent..." murmured the woman, opening her eyes.

* * *

"So ... in conclusion, we're supposed to be dead," said Zack with a nervous grin, scratching the back of his head.

Squall and his companions stared, aghast, at the couple in front of them, completely lost for words. Surely it couldn't have been true ... but then again, anything was possible in this crazy new world...

"Maybe," said Irvine, clearing his fault, "..._Maybe _Ultimecia brought back the dead."

"Why would she do that?" asked Quistis, shaking her head. "It doesn't make sense."

"Well, you're a sorceress, aren't you Aerith?"asked Squall. "Maybe she resurrected all the sorceresses."

"I don't know what Seifer was talking about," said Aerith. "I'm not a sorceress. I'm a Cetra, like I told you. Where we come from, there aren't any sorceresses and none of these places exist."

"An alternate universe maybe?" said Zell. "An alternate universe where sorceresses are Cetras, and maybe Ultimecia warped the universes to make them into one!"

"That doesn't sound too crazy actually, considering it came from you, Zell," said Squall, pondering.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" said Zell angrily.

Squall dismissed Zell's attitude. "But still, it can't be true. Zack isn't a sorceress or a Cetra, yet here is."

"I have no idea who or what Ultimecia is," said Zack, "but the alternate universe part is convincing. Perhaps there are more people from our universe are around here."

Aerith's face lit up at the idea. "R-Really? Do you think we'll meet our friends, Zack?"

Zack grinned at her. "Maybe."

"I'm glad you guys like this situation," said Squall dryly, "but this isn't how the world should be. We have to restore our universes to the way they were. If Ultimecia brought this about, then there might be total chaos."

Aerith grabbed Zack's arm and quickly stood behind him. "D-Does that mean you're going to ... kill us again?"

"That's not a bad idea," said Squall, fingering the hilt of his gunblade. "You shouldn't be here. You should be dead..."

"Squall!" exclaimed Selphie. "You _really _aren't going to kill them, are you? Aerith saved your life and got us out of that horrible mess with Seifer!"

"Selphie, they're alien to our world," said Squall.

"Aliens?" cried Selphie, horrified.

"Hey, hey, hold on a sec," said Zack, feeling around for his own sword only to once again realise that he didn't have it anymore. "Let's not do anything crazy. Don't forget that you guys need Aerith, the 'sorceress', to get around. You really think these people will look too kindly on you killing a sorceress or whatever? That Seifer guy is only being nice to you because of Aerith, y'know."

Squall sighed, taking his hand off of his blade. "Yeah. I know. It was only a thought."

Zack's face dropped. "Jeez man, do you really talk about killing people so casually?"

"That's Squall for you," said Quistis grimly.

"We're trained elite military combatants," said Squall. "It's in our nature."

"Hey, so am I, but you don't see me waving my sword around saying 'I'm gonna kill ya – just kidding!'" said Zack incredulously.

Squall rolled his eyes, not bothering to argue with the fiery soldier.

"Sorry Zack, you'll have to get used to Squall," said Irvine. "He's what you call a weirdo."

Squall rolled his eyes again as all of his friends laughed at him. He was somewhat glad when he saw Seifer approaching from afar, relieved that he'll no longer be the centre of ridicule.

"All right, we can get to the port town now and from there we can get a ship to the Esthar continent," said Seifer, coming up towards the group. "Meet me at the gates in about ten minutes for our ride." He nodded before any of them could affirm the instruction and walked away.

"Port town, huh?" said Irvine curiously. "So they've rebuilt the Centra area. It must be a lot more industrialised and stuff now, rather than a deserted wreck."

"It should be interesting to see how things are now, don't you think?" said Quistis.

"Yeah, maybe Ultimecia's made your world a better place," suggested Zack. "Rebuilding destroyed places, accepting outcasts..."

"Don't talk about things you don't understand so casually," said Squall bitterly.

_Ultimecia make the world a better place? _thought Squall. _Is that even possible? No, of course not ... Ultimecia is an evil sorceress. We're SeeDs. We kill the sorceress. Any agenda she may have can't be for the good of mankind._

Despite his mechanical way of thinking along his upbringing and his orders as a SeeD, there was still a little voice somewhere in the back of his head saying, _'Rinoa is also a sorceress._'

* * *

Lucrecia gaped at the three of them, all of whom were staring at her as if she were some kind of monster. "Am I ... dead? Am I finally ... dead?"

Odine grabbed her hand and took a pulse. It was very obvious that he was trying to contain his excitement and remain professional – after all, his time machine had brought in some kind of human specimen.

"You are most certainly alive, my dear," said Odine. "Now, tell me. Vere did you come from? Vot year are you from? Ze future maybe? Or maybe ze past?"

Lucrecia massaged her temples. "What are you talking about...?"

"Odine, give her some time," said Laguna, waving his hand dismissively at the doctor. "Miss Crescent, you don't have to talk just yet."

"Are you from ... Shinra?" asked Lucrecia. "Don't tell me you work for Professor Hojo..."

"Shinra? Professor Hojo? Hmmm, intriguing..." Odine quickly scrawled what she was saying down on his notepad.

"How did you find me?" demanded Lucrecia, slightly more forcefully than before. "I sealed myself away in the Crystal Cave ... only Vincent knows of it..."

"Sealed yourself, did you say?" said Odine, stroking his chin. "Please elaborate."

"Odine, don't probe her yet," said Laguna. "I'm sorry, Miss Crescent. I'm Laguna, this is Ellone, and that's Doctor Odine. We want to help you – and maybe in turn, you can help us. We didn't find you anywhere – we don't know what Crystal Cave you're talking about. You kind of just ... appeared in our machine unexpectedly."

Lucrecia remained silent, staring at Laguna as if he was crazy.

"I'm not sure what it will take for you to trust us," said Ellone, "But we aren't trying to hurt you. Instead, I'll try to show you who are. Please don't be afraid." She closed her eyes and looked particularly pensive.

"W-What are you doing?" said Lucrecia, her eyes widening in fear, "please – nnnngggh..." Lucrecia's eyes closed and she slowly fell back onto her bed into a state of unconsciousness.

"VONDERFUL idea, Ellone!" said Odine in glee. "Please, put me into zis woman's past as well! I vould like to see what she has been through!"

Ellone opened her eyes and looked at Odine. "I'm sorry, Doctor ... I don't think that's a very good idea if we want her to trust us. She'll be even more suspicious if we suddenly know everything about her life. I only sent her into my past so she can understand our situation."

Odine scowled. "Must you two ruin everything vith your morals?"

* * *

Squall couldn't help but feel slightly awed at how the once-barren Centra region that was destroyed by Sorceress Adel in his time had been completely transformed into a thriving area of trade and civilisation, with the lifeless desert-like plains being replaced with bedazzling greenery and towns every few hundred kilometres. Despite this dramatic change, Squall still questioned Ultimecia's motives in the transformation of the landscape – there must have been some ulterior reason as to why she would do it...

The new port town of Yunalesca reminded him much of a more advanced and attractive Fisherman's Horizon. Tall buildings erected the outskirts of the town, but as the party entered deeper in, small houses and quiet streets were scattered across the area. On the edge was the quiet wharf, where large and small ships constantly landed and departed with passengers or cargo. The clean, calm water sparkled against the grand orange-red sky with the sun half in the sky and half hidden under the ocean.

"Look at that sunset," said Aerith as she boarded the magnificent ship, "it's so beautiful."

"This town is quite impressive," said Quistis.

"Don't get too used to it," said Squall.

"I was merely making a statement, Squall," said Quistis coolly.

"Yaaay, a boat!" said Selphie excitedly, hopping up and down as she reached the deck of the ship. "I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat!"

She began to sing a song about being on a boat happily, and Squall couldn't help but feel amused as he was reminded of her train song – Selphie certainly did have a thing for any mode of transportation or locomotive.

"It'll be a long trip, so you might as well make yourselves comfortable," said Seifer, coming up behind them as he boarded the ship. "Lady Aerith, if you need anything, I'll be around."

"Thank you," said Aerith with a sweet smile.

"And the rest of you better behave," warned Seifer. "There's another sorceress on this ship too, so I don't want any trouble."

"Yes, sir!" said Selphie, saluting Seifer as he walked away.

Squall watched the land grow further and further away as the ship departed from the port, and couldn't help but have a tiny hopeful feeling that the other sorceress on the ship Seifer was talking about might have been Rinoa. He split up from the group and began to explore the vessel, not looking for anything in particular. The ship was not as full of passengers as he had thought, but he was met with the occasional odd glance from the people, their eyes falling on his gunblade.

About half an hour had passed since he began his dull expedition on the ship and he had discovered nothing of value, so he decided to return to where his companions were. Squall turned on his heel and began to walk back, noting the orange sky's slow transition into a more purplish blue colour.

"Stop right there, you little brat!" exclaimed a girl's voice from behind him.

Squall turned around but before he could gather what was going on, he was bumped by a small girl with black hair tied into pigtails running past him. The child fell to the floor when she bumped into Squall, but she quickly picked herself up again and continued running. Before he knew it, another older girl with long blonde hair wearing a regal-looking long, violet silk dress came fast approaching. She was holding her dress up with one hand and waving her fist in anger with the other.

"I'm warning you!" shouted the older blonde girl.

The small child was a few metres away from Squall, but did not stop to turn around or heed any warning from the older girl.

"That's _it_!" said the older girl. She thrust out her hand and a small ring of fire flew from her palm, gliding past Squall and engulfing the little girl. The little girl screamed in pain and fell to the floor again, crying.

Squall ran up to the little girl and bent down beside her, examining the injury. She had suffered a minor but painful-looking burn to her right arm, the skin still smoking. Squall felt around in his pocket for any spare potion that he might have been carrying.

"Are you all right?" asked Squall, opening a small vial of potion with barely anything left inside it.

The older blonde girl approached with a smug look on her face. She stood over Squall and the young girl, sneering.

"Why did you do that?" demanded Squall. "She's just a kid!"

"You _dare _question me, human?" said the older girl, narrowing her already-sharp eyes down at Squall. "This brat stole my bracelet! I should have her killed!"

Squall poured the remaining contents of the potion over the burn, watching it heal instantly. He wanted to lecture the older girl even more for using magic against an innocent child, but he knew he was treading on thin ice – the older girl must have been the other sorceress on the ship Seifer was referring to earlier.

"I'm s-s-sorry," said the little girl. "I just thought ... m-maybe I could become a sorceress too if I had her b-bracelet."

"I don't care," snapped the older girl.

"You won't get any powers by stealing," said Squall calmly. "Apologise and give back her bracelet." He looked at the sorceress with the same calm expression. "Surely you can forgive her. She's just an innocent kid."

The sorceress opened her mouth in shock, but no words came out. "Fine," she said finally. "Just give it back to me and get lost before I change my mind."

"O-Okay," said the little girl with pigtails. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a golden bracelet, and handed it back to the sorceress. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, all right," said the sorceress, rolling her eyes.

The little girl stood up and quickly ran away, completely out of sight. Squall sighed and also stood up, wondering how he was going to deal with this sorceress. Her eyes were a tone of blue that were icy enough to rival Squall's own eyes, but her thin pink lips were curved into a shape that gave her a sharp and permanently-angry look about her. The long dress she wore highlighted her slim figure and looked expensive, with elaborately woven designs of floral and sequins. Her attire coupled with her angry-like face made her look full of a power that was enough to strike fear into children and weak-willed men.

"Are you a Sorceress Knight?" demanded the sorceress.

"What?" said Squall, surprised.

"Your sword," said the sorceress, pointing at Squall's gunblade. "I was told there would be a Sorceress Knight out of uniform on the ship carrying a gun sword."

_It's a gunblade, _thought Squall but did not care to correct her. _She must be talking about Seifer. I guess this is why everyone's been staring at me._

"I'm not a Knight in the ... traditional sense," said Squall slowly. _I'm Rinoa's knight, and she's a sorceress, so technically I'm not lying. I think it's the best story I have if I don't want this girl to fry me with magic._

"Right, whatever," said the sorceress distractedly. "I'm Sorceress Lynette. If you weren't a Sorceress Knight, I would have you punished."

"_Punished?_" repeated Squall incredulously."For _what_?"

"For being annoying, that's _what," _said Lynette irritably. "But, alas, you're my Knight."

"Yeah, about that..." began Squall, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, hey, look at that!" said Lynette excitedly, her aggressive tone changing completely into one that resembled an excited schoolgirl. She ran to the side of the ship and stared off into the semi-dark sky.

Squall looked up at the sky and saw a magnificent stream of silver shooting through the dark sky in the distance, the star landing in a place unknown. He smiled a small, sad smile to himself as he thought of Rinoa fondly, wondering if she saw that same star at that very moment.

* * *

"I couldn't get a hold of Reeve, so I called Yuffie instead," said Cloud, closing his cell phone. "She said she'll be here in an hour."

"An hour, huh?" said Rinoa, jumping up to her feet from her dormant sitting position next to the wreckage of the car. "In that case, I'm going to explore for a bit. I hate sitting still for too long."

The steamy afternoon had very quickly turned to dusk, the sky radiating a navy blue with a few stars and the crescent moon looming.

"It's getting dark," said Cloud. "These areas are dangerous at night."

Rinoa frowned and was about to protest, but luckily for her, Tifa beat her to it.

"Come on, Cloud," said Tifa. "You saw how great Rinoa was at spell casting. She'll be fine on her own, right, Rinoa?"

Rinoa grinned toothily. "Of course!"

Cloud sighed, but gave in to the girls with a shrug of his shoulders. "All right, I know better than to argue with _two_ women. But here, take my phone with you just in case, okay?" Cloud handed Rinoa his cell phone. "Just call Tifa if you need anything."

"Oh Cloud, don't be such a Squall," murmured Rinoa, taking the phone, but still grateful that he was looking out for her. She quickly said she'll be back soon and darted off into the bushland, exploring the foreign world as if she were a tourist.

As she reached a clearing, Rinoa sat on a large, flat boulder that protruded high off the ground. She noticed that the flowers in the area were dull and dying. It seemed as if there hadn't been rainfall in the area for years, as the colours of the leaves and grass were dry and browning.

"Water," she murmured, jerking her palm out violently. A violent flow of fresh, clear water escaped from the palm of her hand and Rinoa concentrated hard for the water to flow long enough for it to rain on the field around her. When she was satisfied that it had been enough, she felt slightly drained of energy and stopped.

"I'm sorry, flowers," said Rinoa, "I hope that's enough water to last you for a while. I don't know when I'll be back here again."

Rinoa couldn't help but laugh at herself. Was she really that lonely that she resorted to talking to plants? She brought her legs up onto the boulder and hugged them close to her chest, wondering where Squall and her friends were. It hadn't been too long since she was separated from her companions, but it felt like it was more than distance than separated them. She missed them terribly. She could begin to understand why Squall would distance himself from others ... because there was no pain to feel in not knowing anybody, yet the pain one felt when losing the ones you love was enough to make you want to give up on life...

_I'm such a hypocrite, _thought Rinoa to herself. _Poor Squall. I've been accusing him of being such an angsty teenager without even considering how he must feel._

She played with Cloud's cell phone in her hands absentmindedly before flipping it open and staring blankly at the screen, which bore a wallpaper of a wolf. She knew it was a long shot, but she tried it anyway...

1085552019. Squall's cell phone number that he used when the party of friends split up on missions. If Squall wanted one of his friends to fight alongside him, he would call them and they would come. If there was ever a problem on a mission where they had to split up, the others would call Squall and quickly discuss a solution.

Rinoa held the phone to her ear after pressing the green 'call' button.

"Your call could not be connected. Please check your number and try again."

Rinoa sighed and closed the cell phone, not being able to help but feel disappointed. She looked up into the dark sky, hoping that somehow and somewhere, Squall was under the same sky. Was he in the flower field waiting for her? If only she knew where it was, she would have come running in an instant...

It was then that she saw a sparkle in the sky, which shot through the darkness leaving an elusive trail of silver light behind it.

_A shooting star..._

Rinoa smiled, only to find tears coursing down her cheeks because no one was there to smile with her.


	5. Magic

**Chapter Five**

**Magic **

Yuffie's promise of a one-hour wait was quite non-existent, with nearly three hours having passed already and there was absolutely no sign of alternative transport to come get them. If Cloud had known that Yuffie would have taken so long, he would have told her to pick them up from the closest village or town, which was only about a one and half hour walk away, so that they could actually get some rest.

"Let's keep in mind that Yuffie isn't the most punctual of people," said Cloud, sitting himself down on the ground next to Tifa, leaning against the car nonchalantly.

"I'm sure we saw this coming when we decided to ask _Yuffie _for help," said Tifa with a laugh, watching him as he sat down next to her. "I don't think there's any point in walking to Kalm now – Yuffie could be here any minute."

Cloud nodded with a sigh.

"Do you think Rinoa's all right by herself?" he asked after a short silence.

"Relax, Cloud," said Tifa, patting his shoulder. "Not every girl needs saving. You're really worried about her, aren't you? Don't tell me you worry like this about me too, otherwise I think you'll have a shortened life span."

Cloud flushed a pale tinge of red but Tifa didn't notice. "I don't worry about you ... too much," he mumbled.

Tifa smiled an elusive smile, as if she had mixed thoughts about Cloud's statement.

"I don't know, Tifa," said Cloud. "There's something weird about Rinoa that I feel like I need to figure out. Maybe ... Aerith led me to her ... maybe there's a reason..."

"Mmm," said Tifa indifferently.

"When she touched my arm in the church today ... there was something inside of me that stirred," said Cloud. "It didn't feel right. This is going to sound strange but ... it was like that feeling compelled me to follow her."

"Oh Cloud, you know she's too young for you, right?" said Tifa with a playful smile.

"I'm serious," said Cloud, his face's expression unwavering. "And she's got a ridiculous amount of Jenova cells ... it must be connected with how she can cast magic without Materia. She has some control of the Lifestream somehow. Don't you see, Tifa? She's _dangerous _and she doesn't even know it. That's why I don't want her to be going off alone on her own, in case she hurts someone. I know what it's like to be controlled by Jenova ... the people around you get hurt unnecessarily..."

"Don't worry, Cloud," said Tifa. "We'll watch over her together. You don't need to pull along others' burdens alone, you know? You could barely carry your own by yourself."

"Sorry," said Cloud, looking away from Tifa.

"Again with the 'sorry'," said Tifa, shaking her head. "Stop blaming yourself for everything, Cloud. We all have things to be sorry for, but feeling sorry isn't going to do anyone any good. We have to take each day as it comes. Each day we're alive is a gift, so don't just throw it away, okay?"

"...You're right," said Cloud. He didn't know what he would do if Tifa wasn't there to pull him back to reality every time his mind became an emotional wreck.

Tifa smiled a small smile. "Do you think the kids will be all right without us tonight?"

Cloud nodded. "Not everyone needs saving, right Tifa? Those kids are stronger than we think."

Tifa grinned at him. "Yeah, you're right. It's nice to have ... a family again ... don't you think?"

Cloud nodded again without a word.

"Cloud..." began Tifa, her deep brown eyes gazing into Cloud's. Whenever she looked at him like that, he always felt like she was probing him, looking through his eyes and into his mind ... it was somewhat unnerving, but still a vaguely nice feeling of someone maybe understanding him...

"Heeey, you guys!" chirped Rinoa's voice from afar. "There's a massive airship that's just landed over there!" Rinoa came running from out of the thin bushland excitedly, pointing into the direction that she came from.

Cloud broke his gaze from Tifa (of which he could have sworn he heard a faint sigh escape her lips), and stood up.

"It must be Yuffie," said Cloud. "'About time, too."

"Yeah, she's sure good with her timing," said Tifa with a nervous laugh.

* * *

"_...Time Compression..."_

"_...Saving the world..."_

"_Sorceress Ultimecia..."_

"_...SeeD..."_

"_The new world...?"_

"_Squall and his friends couldn't kill her..."_

_Ellone awoke, feeling numb all over her body. She tried to remember where she was. She tried to remember what happened before she fell asleep but when she dug into her mind, all she could find were fragments of memories, with blackness in between. It was that same feeling she got when she had a dream, only to wake up and struggle to remember what it was._

"_Ah, my dear, you've awoken."_

_Ellone rubbed her eyes and sat up. She recognised the room – it was a room she was kept in as a child, where she stayed with Doctor Odine when he 'looked after' her. At the doorway was a strange woman that she had never seen before – a woman with long greyish-silver hair, pale skin, and a strange long red dress. Her face was adorned with purple tattoo-like marks, her eyes hot like fire._

"_How do you feel, my dear Ellone?" asked the woman, her voice deep and velvety.  
_

"_I feel fine," said Ellone. "Who are you...?"_

"_Why, I'm Her Highness Ultimecia."_

Ultimecia_ ... the name rang familiar in Ellone's mind..._

"_You're probably wondering why you're here, aren't you, Ellone?" said Ultimecia._

"_Yes, I am," said Ellone. She didn't ask how the older woman knew her name._

"_You're here because you're a very special girl," said Ultimecia. "I'm Queen Ultimecia of Esthar – of the world, actually. And I am Queen because I am a sorceress. Do you know what a sorceress is?"_

A sorceress ... yes I know ... she's Sorceress Ultimecia ... ah ... I know now!

"_No ma'am, I don't," said Ellone flatly. _

"_Well," said Ultimecia, "a sorceress is a woman who possesses great powers. She's a descendant of the God of this planet. She can do magic. She's a wonderful type of person, surpassing any other being on this earth."_

"_I see," said Ellone._

"_You can only become a sorceress if you inherit powers from another sorceress," said Ultimecia. "But you, Ellone – you are special. You have powers, but you were born with these powers. You didn't inherit them from anyone."_

"_So ... what do you want with me?" asked Ellone. "I don't know how to use these powers you're talking about ... Your Highness."_

"_Oh, that's ... a pity," said Ultimecia, her eyes sharpening suddenly._

_Ellone suddenly felt a strange force surrounding her, and a sharp pain seared across her forehead. She used all her willpower to fight off the pain, trying not to show any weakness in her face._

"_...I see," said Ultimecia. "A sweet girl like you wouldn't lie to me, would you?"_

_Ellone shook her head. _

"_Of course you wouldn't lie," said Ultimecia. "Ellone, I must ask you something that only you could help me with." Ultimecia put her hand out, as if expecting Ellone to give her something. Before Ellone could ask, a grainy holographic image appeared above the palm of the sorceress's hand. The image was of the face of a girl with dark hair and calm brown eyes, and a familiar sweet smile..._

"_Do you know this girl?" asked Ultimecia._

_Ellone stared long and hard at the image, and in her mind, a figure sprang to life of that girl calling out Ellone's name and laughing with her. _

That girl is Rinoa ... yes, I do know her...

"_I don't know who that is," said Ellone, shaking her head. She could not trust this woman at all – she had to keep up the lies..._

_Ellone suddenly felt the same searing pain cutting through her head, as if someone was trying to penetrate her brain with a sharp knife. She tried to keep a straight face as she fought off the force._

_Ultimecia broke her gaze with Ellone and the pain immediately stopped. The sorceress closed her palm and the image disappeared._

"_Who is she?" asked Ellone. "Why am I the only one who can help you?"_

"_That girl ... she's important to me," said Ultimecia. "All the sorceresses are like my close children. This sorceress is particularly important to me ... but I cannot reach her. I need her. I was hoping that you could help me find her, and bring my consciousness to meet hers so we can reunite."_

"_But I thought you were the queen of sorceresses," said Ellone. "You don't need me."_

_The corner of Ultimecia's mouth twitched, but she kept a calm face. "Surely, a queen cannot do everything herself. That is why she has servants. But you're not a servant, Ellone, you're like my helper because what you can do is something that I cannot do ... and I must reach that girl, it is a matter of urgency..."_

"_I'm sorry," said Ellone. "I don't know who she is and I don't know how to use my power."_

"_Never mind it," said Ultimecia. "You will learn. It will come back to you. Well, I would like you to meet someone. Odine!"_

_Within two seconds, the door creaked open and Doctor Odine stuck his head in through the doorway. _

"_This is Doctor Odine," said Ultimecia. "I would like him to work with you. He's trying to help me, you see. He's going to build a machine for me so that I can make the world a better place. Since you cannot remember how to use your power, he will look after you and try to help you remember."_

_Ellone slowly nodded._

"_You trust me, don't you, sweet Ellone?" said Ultimecia. "I'm your queen after all. I want to reward you when your work is over. I'll promise to make you my heir if you and Odine are successful. But for now, I'll give you a gift to show you how important you are to me."_

_Ultimecia reached into a pocket in her dress, pulled out a shiny green orb the size of a tennis ball and handed it to Ellone._

"_Thank you, Your Highness," said Ellone quietly. She wasn't quite sure what the mysterious orb was, but she wasn't going to ask._

"_Well, I'm a busy woman," said Ultimecia. "I'll leave you two to it. I have a bumbling servant named Laguna out there somewhere if you need him. Well Odine, I'll leave her in your care. Oh, and Ellone, I'm sorry but you won't be able to leave this laboratory until you've remembered how to use your powers to help me find that girl. This matter is of utmost importance. Keep that in mind while you're here, won't you?"_

"_Yes, Your Majesty," said Ellone quietly. _

"_Goodbye." Ultimecia smiled a slightly twisted smile and snapped her fingers, suddenly disappearing into thin air and leaving a cloud of grey smoke behind her._

"_Pleased to meet you, Miss Ellone," said Odine._

"_Doctor Odine, don't you remember me?" said Ellone suddenly, her passive tone being thrown completely. _

"_I ... don't know vot you're talking about, Miss," said Odine, raising an eyebrow. "We've never met before."_

"_No, we have! We have!" cried Ellone. "What's Ultimecia done to you? Why is she the queen and why is Uncle Laguna her servant all of a sudden?"_

"_Shhh, girl! Don't speak like zat!" said Odine, putting his hands up in an attempt to shush her._

"_No, no, you know what I'm talking about," said Ellone, shaking her head furiously. "I'll show you the truth. And I'll show Uncle Laguna too."_

_And Ellone worked her power in attempt to restore Odine and Laguna's memories._

* * *

"Wasn't that amazing?" said Sorceress Lynette excitedly after the shooting star landed in some unknown place. "Maybe one day my powers will be good enough to make a whole _shower _of shooting stars."

"That's ... nice," said Squall, not knowing what else to say. "Well, I think I should head back to my companions. It was nice to meet you ... Lady Lynette..."

"Oh no, don't leave me yet!" said Lynette quickly.

Squall raised his eyebrow. "Why not?"

Lynette blushed. "Well, because ... I want to have a knight by my side ... and you're the best looking one here."

Squall could feel the blood rush to his cheeks but he lowered his head to the side so she wouldn't see. That line would only work on him once, and that time was when he first met Rinoa. "I ... um ... thanks, but ... I already have ... someone..."

Lynette's face dropped. "Oh, all right. Well, I should go back to my ... quarters now. See you around." She picked up the hem of her long dress and ran back in the direction she came from, disappearing behind a corner.

Squall sighed and shook his head, then continued on to where his friends were—

"_Arghhhhh!_"

A high-pitched, shrill scream came from behind Squall, giving him a little bit of a shock. He knew that sound – it was the sound of trouble, and he had a feeling that it was somehow again connected to Lynette. He wasn't quite in the mood for meddling in somebody else's affairs without being asked to, as it really wasn't his problem, but that hero-esque, morally-binding side of his conscience was biting at him to investigate.

_All right, conscience, you win._

Squall sighed again and rushed towards the direction where the scream came from. He watched from around the corner as a scene involving a small group of people surrounding Lynette unfolded. There was a woman with bright brown hair on the verge of being orange in dirty soldier-like clothes, a man with dark hair in the same attire, a very round-looking fellow who held Lynette in his grip, and two other strangely familiar-looking young men, but Squall couldn't quite put his finger on who they were...

"We advise that you keep quiet, Miss Sorceress," said one of the familiar-looking men. "Otherwise you'll make things a lot more difficult for yourself."

"Unhand me, you knaves!" shouted Lynette. "Let me ... go! _THUNDARA!_"

The incantation seemed to have no effect.

"Sorry, but your magic won't work on us," said the fat man. "That was a really good idea using that kid, Jessie."

"That ... brat...!" said Lynette, fuming as she struggled to break free from the large man. "This bracelet sealed my powers!"

"That's right, and we're the only ones who can unseal them," said the woman.

"So you'd do well to co-operate...sir!" said the other familiar-looking man.

The group entered the nearby cabin, with the large man dragging Lynette inside and slamming the door shut behind him. Then, suddenly Squall realised who those two young men were – they were the Forest Owls, Zone and Watts. Letting curiosity take the better of him, Squall crept up beside the cabin and peered through the window, wondering what the Forest Owls wanted with a sorceress. Perhaps if they remembered who Squall was, they would be able to help him...

* * *

Rinoa, Cloud and Tifa approached the great white airship, which was stationed in a vacant area in the middle of the bushland. The stairs were lowered from the open door, and a girl not too much older than Rinoa stood on the top, waving wildly.

"Cloud! Tifa! I told you I'd make it!" yelled Yuffie.

"Yeah, you're only three hours late," said Cloud, climbing up the stairs.

As the trio boarded, Yuffie tackled Tifa with an enormous hug. "Oh Teef, it's been so damn long!" cried Yuffie.

"Yeah, it has been a while," said Tifa, hugging her friend back. "You never come to visit us anymore."

"Oh well, ya know, being in the intelligence department of the WRO really wears you out!" said Yuffie.

"I see you're working hard for a change," said Cloud.

"You pointy-headed schmuck!" said Yuffie, narrowing her eyes at Cloud. She let go of Tifa and threw herself onto Cloud with another enormous hug. "Yeah, I miss you _too, _Cloud!"

Cloud laughed shortly and patted Yuffie on the back awkwardly. "Right, right."

Yuffie let go of Cloud and her eyes fell on Rinoa. "So this must be the so-called Jenova experiment, huh? _Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?_"

Rinoa laughed nervously, unsure of whether to be offended or not. "Y-Yeah, I do. I'm Rinoa."

"Oh sweet, thank god she's not like one of those freaky Sephiroth clones, huh?" said Yuffie, laughing. "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, first class ninja of Wutai, central intelligence officer at the WRO, and saver of the world from Meteor! Yep, you better remember it!"

"I'll try," said Rinoa.

"Well aren't you guys gonna say hi to Cid?" said Yuffie loudly. "Yeesh, your two old buddies came to get you _personally, _so you two could at least try to look excited!"

"Oh, Cid's personally piloting the airship?" said Tifa in surprise.

"Of course, he won't let anyone else touch the Shera!" said Yuffie. "C'mon!"

Yuffie closed the door behind them and the group wandered through the grand airship to the cockpit where they were greeted by a heartily voice, "Hey Cloud, Teefs, it's been a helluva long time."

"Cid!" said Tifa with a big smile, running up to the pilot and hugging him. "I had no idea you came to pick us up personally. I thought you'd be too busy with business at the WRO."

"Yes indeedy, I'm a busy man," said Cid with a proud grin. "Why do you think it took me so long to get here? Even with the Shera's massive upgrade here, I'm still just a man ya know."

"She's impressive," said Cloud, nodding.

"Of course! Anything I've built is impressive," said Cid.

"Wow, you built this airship?" said Rinoa, her eyes widening.

"Sure did, li'l lady," said Cid nodding.

"Oh, this is Rinoa, by the way," said Cloud.

"I'm Cid," said Cid, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it. "Let's get this baby started."

Cid began to work the airship, and in an instant, the engines were humming, the propellers were spinning loudly, and they were airborne.

"Can your airship go into space?" asked Rinoa.

"Are you kiddin' me?" said Cid. "This ain't a rocket ship, girly. There ain't an airship powerful enough to go all the way to space."

"Really?" said Rinoa, cocking her head. "The Ragnarok could go into space."

"Ragnarok?" said Cid. "Never heard of it. Who built it?"

"Uh, I'm not sure who built it," said Rinoa, "but ... back where I'm from, we rode the Ragnarok into space and everything."

"_Whaaat_?" said Cid in disbelief. "_You've _been to space? You've been to _space_?"

"I sure have," said Rinoa. "It was a bit scary because I got lost in space too. I thought I was going to die. I was running out of oxygen and..."

"Oh, here we go with the stories again," murmured Cloud, but he couldn't help but listen to Rinoa's enthralling tale of adventure. It was in such great detail that it was hard _not _to believe her – either she was some deluded, insane pathological liar or she was telling the insane truth.

"Wait, so you're tellin' me you were _possessed _when you first entered space?" said Cid. "That's crazy, woman."

"Yeah, I know, but who in their right mind would just leap out from an airship in space?" said Rinoa.

"Yeah, you're right about that I guess," said Cid. "Say, where'd you say you came from again?"

"From—"

"A Shinra lab somewhere!" interjected Yuffie. "Girl, you really are _nuts_! You expect us to believe that you got lost in space, you were gonna die, and then some pretty boy just leapt out and saved you? Oh puh_-lease_!"

Rinoa opened her mouth in protest. "I... but..." But she sighed as her face fell, not saying anything else.

"Yeah, that's right," said Yuffie, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, well it was a good story," said Cid.

Cloud couldn't help but feel for Rinoa, with her face down and sullen. He knew what it was like to be told that your life was all just a lie, a story you made up in your head for some reason or other, and that if you believed for hard and long enough, it eventually became a reality. He cast aside all doubt that she might have been genuinely telling the truth – these were definitely the signs of Jenova cell mutation. Now, if only they could find someone who knew her to help her remember her true self, just as Tifa had helped him.

* * *

"Ugh..."

Lucrecia's eyes sprung open, her vision slowly coming back into focus to face a strange white ceiling. The air that met her lungs was overwhelming – it was a feeling that she still had to get used to. She suddenly remembered what she had just seen – a strange dream about a group of teenagers saving a foreign world, only to fail and meet the wrath of a sorceress, with whom the bizarre exchange with Ellone had occurred. She wasn't sure if she had finally died and this was the afterlife, or if she had been awoken millennia into the future after she had sealed herself away. Whatever was going on, the world as she once knew it was no more. There was no such thing as Shinra or Chaos or Mako anymore.

"Miss Crescent, are you all right?" asked Ellone.

Lucrecia, after seeing life through the girl's eyes, felt calmer than before – the girl meant no harm to her.

"I'm fine, Ellone," said Lucrecia. "I ... am a bit puzzled, but it seems I'm alive."

"Y-yes," said Ellone, nodding. "Do you trust us now?"

"I suppose," said Lucrecia with a sigh.

"Vonderful!" said Odine, rushing towards the bed where she lay. "Now zat's been established, let us get back to where we were. So, where are you from, Miss?"

"No tact at all," said Laguna with a sigh.

"My story will probably mean nothing to you," said Lucrecia. "The vision you gave me meant nothing to me."

"Nothing at all?" said Ellone, disappointed.

Lucrecia shook her head. "I come from a planet ... _The Planet ..._ where Lifestream flows through its veins and is the very life of everything."

"Oh _my!_" exclaimed Odine. "Simply vonderful! Simply astonishing! Not only has my machine transported _matter_, but it has transported _extra terrestrial _matter! I am a genius!"

"I'm quite fascinated as to how you did it," said Lucrecia. "I'm a scientist myself. I'm curious about your world."

Lucrecia couldn't quite put her finger on how she was feeling – she had tried so very hard to die in her past life, to atone for her sins and failings, yet being brought back to life in this world sparked a sense of curiosity for the science that she thought she had forgotten. Perhaps this was her second chance at life. Perhaps she could start again.

"Fascinating, absolutely fascinating," said Odine. "I look forward to working vith you, Miss!"

Ellone frowned. "Yes, very exciting. But this doesn't help us at all. How are we supposed to defeat Ultimecia now? Your time machine works I guess, but it was supposed to take us through time, not through worlds."

"Don't be so sullen," said Odine. "You cannot begin to understand how zis can help us! So many hypotheses are flowing through my mind right now! Perhaps Ultimecia created a time-space rift! Perhaps zis other world possesses the secret to defeating Ultimecia! You cannot begin to see ze possibilities, Ellone!"

Lucrecia looked at Ellone. "There may be something I can help you with right now," she said. "Ellone, the vision you gave me was a concentration of your memories, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right," said Ellone. "Please don't ask me how I did it, I'm not sure myself."

"No, no," said Lucrecia. "Whilst I'm curious, there is something else I wanted to ask you. I wasn't completely right when I said nothing in the vision made sense to me. There _was_ something that I did recognise."

"Oh, what?" asked Ellone.

"The sorceress gave you a glowing green ball," said Lucrecia. "Do you still have it?"

"Yes, I do," said Ellone. "I'm not sure what it is."

"Please let me see it," said Lucrecia.

"Doctor Odine used it to construct the time machine," said Ellone.

"Ah yes, I vos not sure vot it vos but because Ultimecia had given it to Ellone, I believed it to be a tool or a hint to building ze machine to travel through time," said Odine. "I noticed zat it possessed some unexplained supernatural qualities."

"I see," said Lucrecia. "That explains a great deal. May I take a look at it?"

Odine hesitated but ended up rushing to the time machine and pulling out the lurid green orb from the machine and handing it to Lucrecia. The professor took it, the coolness of its surface tingling at her skin. The ball was a lot heavier than it looked, but Lucrecia was very familiar with it.

"You know what it is?" asked Laguna.

Lucrecia closed her eyes and put the ball against her wrist, concentrating. In an instant, the ball sunk into her skin and disappeared. A warm feeling began to course through her veins and her mind and body seemed to shift in character – her mind felt more active, yet her physical capacity decreased.

Everybody's eyes widened as Lucrecia opened hers.

"Materia," said Lucrecia. "Just as I thought."

"So, this thing is from your planet?" asked Ellone, covering her mouth.

"Yes," said Lucrecia. "Now, I'll test my next theory." She got out of the bed and stood her ground, concentrating on a chair against the desk. "FIRE!"

Flames shot out from her fingertips and danced around the wooden chair, enveloping it and causing it to crumble into a pile of ash.

Ellone gasped. "_Magic!"_

"Indeed," said Lucrecia, nodding. "And the fact that it worked means that the Lifestream is present."


	6. Project Ultimecia

**Chapter Six**

**Project Ultimecia**

The atmosphere was very tense in the tiny cabin room, with the six 'terrorists' crowding around Sorceress Lynette who was tied up and bound to a chair in the centre. Despite her demands to be released, the group had her firmly in their grip – she had no magic to stop them, after all.

"All right, Sorceress," said Zone, "You know what you're up against. Now if you'd be kind enough, we're going to make a few demands..."

"Jeez, what kind of a rebel demands something so politely?" said Biggs. "You gotta do it more fiercely!"

"All _right, _Biggs, don't tell us how to do our job," said Zone. "This is the _Forest Owls _after all."

"Hey, I thought we had an agreement to call ourselves the Avalanche Forest Owls!" said Wedge.

"Do we really have to?" said Zone, frowning. "It's such a mouthful..."

"Sir!" exclaimed Watts, pointing to Lynette impatiently.

"Oh right," said Zone, turning back to the sorceress. "Now Lynette, we understand your sister, Sorceress Shania, is exercising martial control over Timber at the moment."

"Y-Yeah, what of it?" said Lynette, her brow furrowed.

"_What of it_?" said Zone coldly. "She's a tyrant, _that's what_! She's making the citizens work for her and she keeps their income through ridiculous taxes. She has Sorceress Knights stationed around the whole town and they're using brute force against the people! It's absolutely medieval!"

"She's a sorceress and she's entitled to use her power in any way she wishes," spat Lynette. "And the people will be fools to revolt. They'll all be crushed by her magic, so you humans better consider what's most dear to you if you value your lives."

Watts slammed his hand against the desk. "And what's the point of living if we have to live in fear! What's the point of living if our very livelihoods amount to nothing...sir?"

"And don't act like those people are stupid to rebel against you," said Wedge, "we have you under our control, don't we? What makes you think we can't do this to all sorceresses?"

"Wedge, shut up," hissed Jessie, "we don't know anything about this."

"Sorry Jessie ... I just got excited, being a terrorist again and all," said Wedge.

"You'll all be sorry for this," growled Lynette. "I'll have you all _killed_!"

"Sorry missy, you're nothing without your power," said Zone. "Now you'll do well to listen to what we have to say. We only have one request for now – we'll let you go, but we're keeping that bracelet on you. When we let you go, we're expecting you to go talk to your sister and _convince _her to relinquish her power over Timber. If she refuses, you will take any means necessary for her to do this – even if it means waging war against her. That's right, _war. _Once we're satisfied, we'll get rid of that bracelet for you. See? No one gets hurt."

"I refuse," spat Lynette.

"Oh well, I guess you're stuck with no powers for the rest of your life," said Zone, shrugging.

Lynette glared at Zone, her eyes filled with fiery hatred. "Your plan is flawed. But what can I expect from a bunch of humans?"

"Oh, don't think we haven't thought this through, sir," said Watts. "But if you're so sure our plan is flawed, then what have you got to lose?"

* * *

Cloud looked out the window of the Shera in an attempt to reduce his motion sickness. He soon realised that they were heading in a northerly direction, contrary to where the new WRO headquarters was.

"Where are we going?" asked Cloud. "I thought you were taking us to HQ."

Yuffie laughed nervously. "Heh heh, did I forget one teeny detail?"

"Of course you did," said Cloud with a sigh.

"We've just gotta make a quick side trip," said Yuffie. "Reeve sent us on a mission."

"Tifa and I aren't really a part of the WRO," sad Cloud. "Why do we have to go?"

"Because," said Cid, "Reeve said so. If he wants you to go, then there must be a good reason."

"I hope this is a paid mission," said Cloud with a groan. "Where are we going?"

"Mount Nibel," said Yuffie.

"What?" exclaimed Cloud. "That's not a _side trip_, that's more like an _across-the-world_ trip."

"Oh don't be such a baby," said Yuffie, poking her tongue out at Cloud. "We're almost there anyway."

"Cloud, I thought you said you'd help me find my friends," said Rinoa.

Cloud sighed. "Rinoa, when I said that..."

"You didn't really mean it?" said Rinoa, frowning.

"No," said Cloud half-heartedly. _How did I get myself into this? _"Just come with us on this mission first and we'll work out the fine details later, okay?"

Rinoa opened her mouth in protest for the umpteenth time but Tifa cut in.

"So what's going on at Mount Nibel?" asked Tifa.

"Well, I'll tell you what I know but it's all stuff that I don't really understand," said Yuffie. Her face shifted into a thoughtful, serious expression. "So we all know that Mount Nibel is where Jenova's head used to lie all those years ago and that there's a lot of Mako there. But here's the thing – remember how the Turks recovered Jenova's head at the Northern Crater? Well, Rufus hid it away in some secret location after that whole fiasco – but Reeve's just told me that it's gone _missing_."

"You're kidding," said Cloud, slightly panic-stricken. "What do you mean _missing_? It just _disappeared_?"

"Yeah, apparently!" said Yuffie. "Just ... poof! Gone!"

"Do you think someone stole it?" asked Tifa.

"I dunno," said Yuffie, "Rufus said there was no evidence of intrusion. But when Jenova and stuff is involved, anything is possible, right?"

"So, what's this have to do with Mount Nibel?" asked Cloud.

"Well, there's been a sudden new outbreak of Geostigma in the village," said Yuffie. "It's pretty serious! And that's not all. Reeve also said something about reports of the Mako behaving erratically in the area. Like, the Mako levels drastically decreased. Barret was having a field day, going nuts over our energy just vanishing."

"Mako behaving erratically in the area," repeated Cloud. "Mako is a liquid concentration of the Lifestream. The strange Mako activity must be causing the Geostigma outbreak, and the strange Mako activity ... must have something to do with Jenova's missing head. It can't just be a coincidence."

"If the remains of Jenova are gone and people are becoming infected with Geostrigma, then the Reunion thing might be happening again," said Tifa.

Yuffie stomped her foot on the ground with a frustrated groan. "Seriously, don't we ever learn? We should've destroyed Jenova's head, not just hide it away _again_!"

"It's not that easy to destroy Jenova," said Cloud. "And if Jenova is completely destroyed, her remains will return to the Lifestream and completely poison it. She's not from The Planet – she's the 'calamity from the sky'. Poisoning the Lifestream is not something we want."

"Yeah, well in any case, this is _bad news_," said Yuffie.

'_Bad' is a bit of an understatement, _thought Cloud. He looked at Rinoa, who appeared to be extremely bored and disgruntled with the idea of detouring from her own journey yet again. _Jenova's head is missing and strange Mako activity. That means strange Lifestream activity. At the same time, this girl with an abundance of Jenova cells with the ability to control the Lifestream to cast magic without Materia appears out of nowhere. This is definitely not a coincidence._

"Cloud, stop staring at me like that," said Rinoa. "It's making me nervous."

"If Cloud's starin' at you, I think you should be nervous," said Yuffie with a grin.

Cloud looked away, rolling his eyes. But Rinoa's presence still bothered him. The negative thoughts of her being a manifestation of the destruction of The Planet overcame his consciousness.

_Who are you, Rinoa? _he wanted to ask. What_ are you? Are you friend ... or foe?_

* * *

Squall was torn between what he should have done next – there she was, a helpless girl clearly in danger from a group of terrorists, but then again she was a sorceress. Were sorceresses good or evil? Surely they must be evil, if Ultimecia took hold of the world and sorceresses were oppressing the world? Now that there was no SeeD or Garden to tell him whose side he was on, Squall was completely at a loss as to what was the right thing to do.

_I never realised I was so dependent on having someone tell me what's right and wrong_, thought Squall. _The life of a mercenary. Rinoa was right after all._

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Squall tried not to look startled and turned around to find Seifer standing behind him. It must have looked suspicious that Squall was just standing there, looking into the window of a cabin but at the same time trying to be hidden.

"I ... just," began Squall, "saw something—"

"What? Perving on girls getting changed?" said Seifer with an arrogant smirk.

Squall wanted very badly to bark a comeback at him but couldn't find the words. "Whatever," he said automatically, when he couldn't think of anything to say.

"You can't keep me here forever!" shrieked Lynette's voice loudly from inside the room. "Someone will find me eventually! This ship has to stop at some stage!"

"Hey, that's Lady Lynette's voice," said Seifer, narrowing his eyes down at Squall suspiciously.

Seifer pulled out his gunblade and rushed for the door, in a fighting stance.

"Wait!" said Squall quickly. _If he goes in there, my cover is blown. Lynette thinks _I'm _a Sorceress Knight. There's only one thing I can do..._

Squall pulled out his gunblade as well and rushed to Seifer's side. Maybe Lynette will think that they were both knights, if both of them came to save her.

"Hey, I don't need your help," snarled Seifer, "I can take this on my own."

"There are five of them in there and they've sealed her magic," said Squall shortly, not looking at Seifer. "You'll need all the help you can get."

"Whatever, just stay out of my way," said Seifer quickly, pushing against the door. "Dammit..." When the door didn't open, Seifer cut down the wooden planks ruthlessly and burst inside, with Squall behind him.

"Knights!" said Lynette in relief. "It's about time!"

The captors looked mortified and surprised, as they all scrambled to their feet with their hands in the air.

"Watts! You didn't say there would be Knights on board!" said Zone angrily.

"N-No, I didn't know, sir!" said Watts, terrified. "It must have been a last-minute change!"

_That's right, Seifer's only on board because we asked him to take us to Esthar, _thought Squall.

"Yeah, that's right," said Seifer. "Aren't you tools lucky that I happen to be here? Now, I see that you're all unarmed, so why don't you just surrender yourselves quietly and I won't have to hurt you. For now, anyway."

"D-Damn," said Zone, his face falling. "We were so close..."

"Get on your knees slowly and keep your hands in the air," barked Seifer. "Sorry I'm late, Lady Lynette. Don't worry, I'll take care of these bastards for you. Hey you," Seifer nodded at Squall, "make yourself useful and untie the sorceress."

Squall was about to object to having to take orders from Seifer, but he abandoned the idea and did as he was told. He had to make it seem like he was with Seifer.

"You're all under arrest," said Seifer, taking the rope that was tying down Lynette and using it to tie up her captors. He then filed them out of the room, leaving Squall and Lynette alone.

"Thanks for saving me," said Lynette coyly.

She leaned towards Squall, as if about to kiss him on the cheek, but Squall quickly took a step back. Whilst it was an insult to Rinoa for him to allow Lynette to behave so amorously towards him, he didn't like the idea of becoming too close to a sorceress of this world. _The closer you become to someone, the harder it is to get rid of them – or let go of them, _he had always told himself.

Lynette, slightly taken aback, maintained her composure. "They've sealed my powers. They said that they're the only ones who can undo it."

"So you're saying you don't want them killed?" said Squall. He couldn't help but notice how the sorceress's personality fluctuated so much from feisty and annoying to shy and gentle.

"I ... I really do want them dead," said Lynette, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "But I want my powers back first. I want them to take this bracelet off." She fiddled with the gold bracelet on her hand, but it was firmly stuck around her wrist.

"I'll see if I can talk to Seifer," said Squall, shrugging. But his eyes remained on the bracelet – it bothered him. It was eerily similar to the bracelet that Rinoa had possessed when she tried to seal Edea's powers on their mission in Deling City – was it one and the same?

"Wait, don't leave me," said Lynette as Squall began to walk away. "What if there are more of them?"

"I can't stay with you and deal with those captors at the same time."

"Oh," said Lynette, looking down.

"I'll take you to my friends," said Squall with a sigh. "They're experienced fighters. They'll take care of you."

"Are they knights?" asked Lynette.

"No ... they're just ordinary humans," said Squall.

"Then I'm not interested," said Lynette, folding her arms.

"Then you can die here," snapped Squall.

"You're so mean to me," said Lynette, pouting. "How can you have the guts to stand up to me? No one stands up to me, not even knights."

"Because I'm not afraid of sorceresses," said Squall bluntly.

It pained him to say it ... because saying it made him miss Rinoa even more. He remembered the time when Rinoa was so distraught over the idea that everyone would be afraid of her, that everyone would hate her. But he wasn't afraid. He could never hate her.

"You're different from the rest," said Lynette, looking thoughtful.

"Not really," said Squall, shrugging. "Your captors didn't seem scared to stand up to you."

"Oh, right," said Lynette bitterly.

"Well, are you going to come with me or are humans not good enough?" asked Squall.

Lynette bit on her bottom lip in hesitation. "I ... I suppose these skilled fighters of yours are in a more powerful position than I am. I would be stupid to turn you down."

"Fine, follow me then," said Squall. "Maybe you can come to realise that humans aren't so bad." He paused and contemplated holding his tongue on voicing his next thought, but ended up saying it anyway. "After all, sorceresses are just humans with powers. They have the same weaknesses as humans do."

Lynette remained silent and just followed Squall out of the cabin. "Knight, you never told me your name," she said quietly.

Squall didn't turn around to look at her and just continued to lead the way to his companions rigidly. "Squall."

* * *

In the stillness of the night, the bluish light of the moon shone down furiously on the Sorceress Memorial through the grey clouds floating in the night sky. The metal wires and gadgets that largely constructed the site lay dormant and unused for what seemed like hundreds of years. After all, it was merely a ruin now – there was no need to seal sorceresses anymore, and no need to mark the triumph over sorceresses. Instead, it was now a sacred site where sorceresses were buried when they had passed their powers on and died.

Outside the structure stood two dark figures, almost entirely obscured by the enveloping darkness, if it had not been for the moon.

The man stood with his back turned to the woman, staring off into the plains of the unfamiliar paradise that was not his world. "This must be the Promised Land."

The woman lingered at the gateway with her arms folded. "Yes. It is the land that I have promised you. But it is not yet the paradise that was envisaged."

"What do you mean?" asked the man.

"The Promised Land is in fact the Lifestream," said the woman. "Only the Cetra believed this. The foolish humans believed it to be a real place on The Planet, am I right, Sephiroth?"

The man did not reply, turning his head slightly so that the moon shimmered on his silver hair.

"I am materialising the Lifestream to make it a real land, rather than simply an energy flow through The Planet," the woman continued. "But the Lifestream will never materialise _on_ The Planet – The Planet is the very thing the Lifestream protects. Therefore it can only be rematerialised elsewhere.

"The world you once knew was always on the road to doom. The humans were greedy to use the Lifestream for their own selfish gains – why not speed up the process of its inevitable destruction? The humans should be punished for their sins and the good people should be rewarded. This planet, _my _planet – is in dire need of becoming the perfect world. All must come to accept the supreme beings, the Sorceresses, as descendants of the Creator. The Sorceresses will make the world _perfect."_

"Sorceresses," murmured Sephiroth. "Do you mean ... the Cetra...?"

"The world you come from is inferior in all ways," replied the woman. "The Cetra dared to challenge me, but they are beings far inferior. It is an insult that the foolish humans mistook me as a Cetra."

"The calamity from the sky," murmured Sephiroth. "'The sky' is this world? Your world?"

The woman merely smiled, and said nothing.

"So you are not really a Cetra. It was an assumption of Professor Gast. It must mean that he incorrectly dubbed you 'Jenova'. Mother, please tell me your true name."

The woman sneered. "Ultimecia."

_Ultimecia._

"You do realise that you are also not a descendant of a Cetra, Sephiroth? I hope that doesn't hurt your ego."

Sephiroth turned around to face his mother, leering in a proud yet cold manner. "Of course not. I am the descendant of something far greater than that destroyed race. I am a descendant of the _Creator. _But there are still many things I don't understand. How did you travel to The Planet from here?"

Ultimecia's face had a somewhat twisted glee in it. "Time compression is the process of warping time and space to manipulate the universe to be anything I want. To achieve it, I must cast the spell from the past, present and the future. I had successfully casted it in my time on this planet. I then used a time machine called the Junction Machine Ellone to send my consciousness into the past, where I controlled numerous sorceresses to do my bidding to cast the time compression spell in that time period.

"However, some meddling mercenaries called SeeD tried to foil my plan. They were able to use Ellone, a precious child with time magic, to force me into prematurely casting the spell and they came to my time to face me. They tried to defeat me, but they were far too weak – I easily eliminated them. They've been absorbed into the essence of time, their existence forever wandering through nothingness.

"After that, I then had to proceed with going to the future to complete the time compression spell. I used the Junction Machine Ellone once again to send my consciousness to the future – however, little did I know that whilst I was in the past, the builder of the time machine had altered the machine to try to defeat me. Instead of sending me to the future, he tried to physically transport me away into the essence of time and banish me from the universe forever.

"But little did he know of the impact that this action had. He had in fact sent me to your world, The Planet, where I had fallen amongst the Cetra. Of course, I did not know that this was another world – I thought it was the future of my own world. Therefore I casted the time compression spell, only to wreak havoc and wound your Planet so badly that the Cetra had to stop me and seal me away."

Sephiroth nodded slowly. "And several hundred years later, Professor Gast discovered you and thought you were a Cetra ... I see..."

"Yes, but that isn't the end of the story," continued Ultimecia. "As I awoke in the Shinra Headquarters, only my head remained and it was too weak. I had to take your form to continue my plan to wound the Planet with the Meteor magic and become one with the Lifestream so I could control it. Unfortunately, I was stopped by _your _rival and his meddling friends ... I thought I could control him, but his will was far too strong..."

"You must mean Cloud," said Sephiroth grimly.

The woman continued on. "I was defeated. But luckily, the modified version of the time machine was flawed – Odine had not tested it thoroughly enough. It seemed that it was still heavily influenced by the subject's consciousness – I had died, but my form was foreign and could not return to the Lifestream entirely. Instead, it infected the Lifestream and caused a disastrous disease upon The Planet, therefore I was not completely dead. Instead, my consciousness had returned to my world whilst my physical remains lingered on The Planet.

"But my consciousness had been transported back to a time where the Junction Machine Ellone could not transport matter through worlds. Therefore, I had no means of returning to The Planet to take control over the Lifestream. Fortunately, years later, some remnants were able to absorb what little of my remains was left and summon your body. You were supposed to spread the Geostigma cell disease and taint the Lifestream so much that I could be reborn into The Planet and we could control the Lifestream ... but you failed..."

Sephiroth, a man of great status with a powerful aura around him, maintained his cold composure and kept silent, despite the fact that the woman's words were infuriating him.

"If The Planet does not die, then there can be no Promised Land. Thanks to your failure, I've had to take matters into my own hands."

"What is your plan?" asked Sephiroth, refusing to apologise.

"Before travelling to your world, I thought the time compression spell was what I needed to do to achieve perfection," murmured Ultimecia. "But my detour to your planet made me discover the Lifestream – and the fruit that it bears makes the creation of the new world infinitely easier. Not only that, but I – _we _– will have the powers of the Lifestream at our fingertips. I need not travel to three time periods – all I need is to control the Lifestream."

Sephiroth said nothing, not completely understanding what Ultimecia was talking about.

"But alas, we have no means of travelling to The Planet," said Ultimecia. "However, I know how the future pans out. I know that Odine will eventually modify the Junction Machine Ellone to operate as a means of travelling through worlds. _The future _will repeat itself – it is inevitable that he will try to banish me again. It is only a question of _when._

"Fortunately I thought ahead. When I partially compressed time, I created a wound in the time-space continuum so that the Lifestream will leak through The Planet and flow onto this one," continued Ultimecia. "But it is happening far too slowly. I sent a young sorceress to your world in the middle of time compression. All I needed to do was to get Ellone to put me in her consciousness so I could control her and make her destroy The Planet ... but that has proven to be very difficult.

"Therefore, we must wait for Odine to finish the time machine modifications. Once it is complete, you must return to The Planet and finish what you started – destroy it, so that _all_ life will return to the Lifestream and overflow to this planet. Wound The Planet so much that Lifestream must succumb to you. Thus, Lifestream will be ours for the Promised Land."

"Understood, Mother," said Sephiroth.

"But in the meantime," said Ultimecia, "you're free to do whatever you wish. I've already given you the fabled power that the humans of this world desire so much. Are you happy with having such a power in this world?"

Sephiroth didn't respond, annoyed with the prospect of having power with no purpose. This 'power' he was given wasn't really anything special to begin with – it was just Materia that was commonplace on The Planet.

"You can't lie to me," hissed Ultimecia, "nobody can."

"I didn't say anything," said Sephiroth testily.

"You're still such a boy," sneered Ultimecia. "Remember, boys still need their mothers, Sephiroth. If you're _bored_, as most children get, I give you this." She waved her hand in a circular motion, and a mysterious card appeared. She handed it to Sephiroth.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's a purpose for your power," said Ultimecia.

Sephiroth examined the card curiously. It seemed to be a form of identification. A picture of his unsmiling yet impressive face was on the right next to his name in thin letters. Underneath his name were the words 'Captain of the Sorceress Knights'.

* * *

**Author's notes: **Note that I use the term 'Jenova's head' in the same way and context that it's been used in the Japanese version of Advent Children – it's been stated by the writers that it's not really the actual head of Jenova but merely some miscellaneous remains of Jenova's cells (I think it was in the extra features of the Advent Children DVD). So, whenever you see me refer to 'Jenova's head' from now on, it's in the sense that they're just a bunch of cells.

Also, some interpret the plot of FF7 to be that the real Sephiroth (sealed away at Northern Crater) was in fact controlling Jenova (who had taken the form of Sephiroth, of which Cloud and company pursue in the game). Whilst it's never explicitly stated in FF7 that this was the case (at least I don't think so ... correct me if I'm wrong), for the purpose of this fanfic, please just read under the assumption that Jenova was acting of her own accord.

All that aside, I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Next chapter is coming up soon. PS: Yes, I know I said I'd keep all author's notes in my profile but I couldn't resist this one time.


	7. Chaos

**Chapter Seven**

**Chaos**

Aerith leaned on the side of the ship, staring dreamily off into the never-ending ocean which looked like a velvety black cloth under the night sky. The sound of the water beneath the boat and the smell of the salt in the air were soothing to her senses. She closed her eyes and tried to hear the calls of The Planet as she had when she was 'alive', but could hear nothing. As a child, she used to be frightened by the voices and cries, but as she grew up, she had grown accustomed to it. Now the absence of the voices made her feel slightly uneasy, as if there was something wrong.

_But I'm not on The Planet anymore, _she thought.

"Aerith, why are you so lonely up here?" came Zack's voice from behind her.

Aerith turned around and smiled at Zack. She had forgotten how much she missed him after he disappeared, not since Cloud and his friends showed up in her life. But now that she was with Zack again, she wondered how she could ever be without him. There was a cheerfulness and optimism in Zack that she adored – it was a cheerfulness and optimism that far surpassed her own. Whilst she did at one stage take affection towards Cloud, her heart was still secretly somewhat with Zack, for he was the only one who could bring her up when she was down. He was the pillar in her life that she needed most. Cloud could never fill such a void.

"I'm just doing some thinking," said Aerith vacantly.

Zack walked up next to her and joined her in her staring-off-into-the-sea endeavour. "Yeah, we really haven't had time to do much of that, huh?"

Aerith nodded in agreement. "Zack ... I can't hear The Planet anymore."

"Ah," said Zack, "then we really must be in another world. Far from home. Our souls have been sent here. But there must be a reason, don't you think?"

"Maybe our task is to help Squall and his friends," said Aerith. "Doesn't Squall remind you of Cloud? I've been told by the others that he never used to care for his friends or for the world, yet here he is, trying to save it from oppression."

Zack chuckled. "A Squall and Cloud in the same sky, huh? Kinda poetic, isn't it?"

Aerith giggled. "Selphie's told me that the girl he loves has gone missing. Perhaps ... he's fighting to find her."

"Oh Aerith, such a romantic as usual," said Zack, punching her lightly on the arm playfully.

Aerith looked deeply into his Mako eyes. "I know what it feels like. To fight to find someone you love."

Zack was silenced for a moment. "Aerith ... I don't know how to say this to you."

"Say what?" asked Aerith curiously.

"Well," began Zack, "back then, on our planet, in our time - when we were alive. Do you remember that phone call I made to you before my mission in Nibelheim?"

"I can never forget," said Aerith quietly. "You said ... 'wait for me. I'll meet you in Midgar'."

Zack nodded. "I ... I want to say sorry. I never had the chance to explain to you what happened. The mission turned out badly – Sephiroth almost killed me. And after that, Cloud and I were taken as experiments. When we escaped, the first thing I said was 'We'll go to Midgar. There's someone there that I have to meet'. But this was _ages _after that phone call."

Aerith kept her eyes fixated on him, trying not to show too much emotion – a trait she picked up from Cloud.

"But," said Zack, scratching the back of his head, "I never got there. I was shot dead on my way to meet you. I know you sent me all those letters, and with every one of them, I just wanted to see you more and more."

Aerith blinked back a tear forming in her eye. "I thought you had forgotten about me. I thought SOLDIER had offered you more opportunities." She sighed, wary that her eyes were becoming glassy. "I waited everyday for you, Zack ... I really did..."

"I'm ... sorry," said Zack wholeheartedly, "I can't ever forgive myself for the pain I must've caused you as you waited for me every day. But just remember one thing … I could never forget you, Aerith."

Aerith laughed weakly. "Don't be sorry! It's not your fault you got killed."

"Well..." Zack began with a laugh.

"I'm just happy ... that I can be with you again," whispered Aerith. "Even if it's only for a while. But at least if we die again ... you'll die knowing how I feel."

"Really?" said Zack with a sheepish grin. "And how's that?"

Aerith smiled innocently. The smile was as bright as the stars above them at that very moment. She leaned forward and threw her arms around him, and brought her lips to meet Zack's. The soldier's arms found their way to wrap around Aerith's petite body, his kiss returning all his lost feelings towards her. Their passionate kiss brought forward all the emotions she had been trying to suppress so that she could let go of Zack, but now that he was here again, she didn't want to let go of him. If she let go of him, he would never return, just as it was last time...

Aerith broke the kiss and buried her face into his warm chest. "I feel this," Aerith said, trying to hold back tears of mixed emotions.

* * *

After Squall had dropped off Lynette with his companions, leaving a rushed explanation of what had happened and asking them to watch over her, Squall darted off to the lower deck of the ship where he assumed Seifer would have kept the terrorists who had sealed Sorceress Lynette's power. He stood by the door, hidden, and listened in on Seifer's barking voice.

"You guys sure have some nerve," said Seifer, "too bad I can't take you back to the castle to have you _properly _dealt with."

"I'd think twice about you having us killed," Zone said defiantly.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" sneered Seifer.

"We've sealed the sorceress's powers," said Zone. "And we're the only ones who know how to undo it."

"Hah, you can make up any cock and bull story you like," said Seifer, "but lies only make your case worse. Though, I'm not sure what's worse than death."

"If you don't believe us, you should check with the sorceress yourself, sir!" said Watts. "After all, if you have us killed so hastily and it turns out that her powers have been sealed forever; I wonder who will be punished then, hmmm?"

Seifer was in a thoughtful silence for a moment. "All right, I'll consider your claim here. But believe me, if you're lying and using this as a chance to escape, you're _really _in for it. Not that there's anywhere to escape anyway, unless you think you can _swim _to land."

Squall heard Seifer's footsteps approaching and quickly hid behind a pile of wooden crates. Seifer closed the door behind him but didn't seem to lock it, and walked right by the hidden Squall without so much as a glance. When the blonde knight was out of sight, Squall withdrew from his hiding spot and headed down into the lower deck. As he entered, he saw the five captives locked behind bars in a tiny, dank cell. They all simply stared at him in silence as he came in.

"Your friend's already dealt with us," spat Zone.

"I see," murmured Squall. "So you don't remember me..."

"What?" asked Zone.

"Nothing," said Squall briskly. "Listen to me, all of you, I'm not here to punish you. I've overheard your plans and I want to overthrow the sorceresses too."

Biggs let out a short chuckle of disbelief. "Yeah, right. And we're to believe you after you barged in on us? You're a knight for crying out loud."

"I'm not a knight," said Squall, wondering if it was a good idea to say such a thing. "Lynette simply assumed I was. I lied about my identity to get information from her."

The group looked pensive, but maintained their stern behaviour.

Squall sighed, doubting that he would get anywhere this way. He had to resort to negotiation. "If you don't believe me, I don't care. I'll help you get out of this mess if you help me. I only want to know one simple thing."

"And how are _you_ going to get us out of this mess?" asked Zone. "If you're not a knight, then you're nobody."

_If I'm a knight they won't trust me, and if I'm not a knight they won't trust me, _thought Squall, agitated. "I have a sorceress as an ally. Aerith is her name. She'll undoubtedly have influence over your fate if I asked her."

There was silence, as the group members looked at one another.

"What do you have to lose?" said Squall, slightly annoyed. "I'm your best bet of getting out of here alive. I can even help your greater cause later on."

"Maybe we should give him a chance," said Jessie. "He's right, we don't really have much else to lose."

"All right, but if you renege on your promise, we'll make it known to Lynette and the blondie that you lied about being a knight," said Zone confidently. "And _you'll _be the one who's in deep water."

"Fine," said Squall. "It's a deal. All I want to know is where you got that bangle you used to seal Lynette's powers."

_Perhaps it will lead me to Rinoa, _thought Squall, remembering the time when Rinoa was able to get her hands on a similar bangle to seal Edea's powers.

"Hah!" said Watts. "You think we're foolish enough to divulge such a secret to some stranger, sir?"

"Is it an Odine bangle?" demanded Squall, ignoring Watts' remark. "Did you get it from Doctor Odine? Or did you get it from a girl called Rinoa? Rinoa, your princess – don't tell me you don't remember!"

Squall couldn't help it – he couldn't keep his cool. He was showing signs of weakness and desperation – hopefully the group wouldn't pick up on it and use it to their advantage. But he couldn't control it anymore – he _had _to find Rinoa. He had to know she was alive and safe, somewhere. _Damn it Rinoa, look what you've done to me._

"How do you know Doctor Odine?" said Zone, glaring at Squall suspiciously.

_If Odine is alive and created the same bangle he created in the past, then it must mean he's still trying to overthrow Ultimecia, _thought Squall, feeling more hopeful. _That must mean he still has his memories. Otherwise, why wouldn't he be subservient to the sorceresses just as everyone else is? It's only logical._

"Doctor Odine – he's trying to overthrow Ultimecia," said Squall. "He's secretly trying to overthrow the sorceresses whilst working for Ultimecia. Am I correct?"

"You are, sir," murmured Watts.

"And how would I know that unless I was affiliated with him, just as you are?" asked Squall. "We're on the same side. No knight could possibly know that and allow it to continue."

"...Then I guess we can trust you," said Zone. "You're right, it's an Odine bangle. Doctor Odine gave it to us secretly to trial, as he had no opportunities to use it himself. After we had dealt with our mission to free Timber, we were going to report to him to undertake a mission he wants to assign to us."

"I see," said Squall, nodding. "Doctor Odine is still in Esthar, right? I urgently need to see him."

"He is, sir," said Watts.

"And do you know of a girl called Rinoa?" asked Squall again, seeing as how he never got an answer before.

"Never heard of her," said Zone.

"None of you?" asked Squall, frowning.

Everyone in the group shook their heads in response.

"Well, all right then," said Squall heavily. "Do you know where Seifer is sending you?"

"We're headed for the D District Prison," said Zone grimly.

"Okay ... well, I'll get you out somehow," said Squall, mentally putting it on his onerous to-do list. "I better get out of here before Seifer comes back..."

"Wait, what's your name?" asked Zone. "We need a reference if you don't keep your end of the deal."

"Squall," he replied, feeling a strange sense of déjà-vu.

"Well, I'm Zone and that's Watts," said Zone, pointing at himself and Watts.

_I know, _thought Squall.

"And I'm Biggs, this is Wedge and—"

"I don't care about your names, I just want the job done," cut in Squall, wary that Seifer could be back any minute.

"Jeez, he's just like Cloud," murmured Wedge.

Squall ignored the comment. "I'll see you all sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. Try not to die."

* * *

"Absolutely amazing," said Odine, scrawling notes down quickly on his notepad. "So zis _Lifestream _allows you to summon magic through ze condensation of zis _Mako_."

The small 'resistance' in Esthar consisting of Ellone, Laguna, Odine and perhaps Lucrecia had spent much of their hours puzzling over the mysteries of time and space travel, but the focus was now on Lucrecia's world. Ellone and Laguna were confused with Lucrecia's scientific explanation of what the Lifestream was, but Odine seemed to catch on to it straight away.

"Yes, that's right," said Lucrecia.

"You said Lifestream flowed through your planet, right?" said Laguna. "Does that mean that we have a Lifestream too? Ya know, since you said before that Lifestream is present..."

"Perhaps," said Lucrecia, pondering. "Let me ask you a question. What happens to you when you die?"

"Me, personally?" asked Laguna, blinking.

"No, I mean anyone," said Lucrecia.

"Well," said Laguna, scratching his head. "You go to heaven? Come on, I don't know. Nobody really knows what happens when you die. It all comes down to what you believe."

"I see," said Lucrecia. "It is well-known science in my world that when you die, you return to the Lifestream. Lifestream, made of Mako, is the source of all life, and Mako is used as energy."

"I don't believe zat we ever had zis Lifestream," said Odine. "If zat is so, zen somebody must have discovered it by now and used ze Mako energy."

"The Materia would only work if there was Lifestream," replied Lucrecia. "There is absolutely no other explanation. And regarding the Mako, perhaps your civilisation hasn't advanced enough to get to that stage."

"Excuse me!" said Odine, folding his arms crossly. "Our civilisation must be _far _more advanced if we have energy sources zat don't bring ze planet to ruin!"

"Of course, forgive me," said Lucrecia coolly. "All right then, Doctor, let me put this to you. Perhaps the Lifestream hasn't always been present on your planet. Perhaps it has only just come. Say for example, it came when the sorceress warped your planet and altered every aspect of life itself. Perhaps she is the one who brought the Lifestream here, just as she was the one who brought Materia here."

"It is feasible," said Odine, nodding.

"But that would mean she must have known that such things existed elsewhere," said Ellone. "She can't have just invented Lifestream and Materia."

"It brings me to my next theory," said Lucrecia. "Because she possessed that Materia she gave to Ellone, I can only come to believe that she is linked to The Planet, that is, my planet, somehow. There is a parallel I can draw, and that is the lost Cetra race having powers without Materia – perhaps they are the sorceresses. I thinkthis Sorceress Queen has seen my planet and is simply mirroring certain aspects of it."

"I'm so confused," said Laguna. "This Cetra or whatever – tell us more about them."

"Well, they're beings that look like humans that have the power to commune with The Planet and the Lifestream," said Lucrecia. "And with that, I assume they have what you would call 'magic powers'. But they're extinct now."

"Hmm, kind of does sound like a sorceress," said Laguna. "So I guess Ultimecia can travel across planets. Wouldn't she need some kind of spaceship?"

"The Ragnarok?" suggested Ellone.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Odine. "We've yet to discover life outside of our planet. She must have used my Time Machine in ze future! After all, zis machine brought back Professor Crescent _and_ ve have been working to transport physical _matter _with ze machine."

Lucrecia was solemnly silent for a moment. "I ... yes. Actually, I just had another idea."

"What is it?" asked Laguna.

"Something, long ago, came to The Planet – something foreign," said Lucrecia grimly. "It was a creature that brought havoc and despair, with powers presumably similar to that of the Cetra. It was 'the calamity from the sky'. We didn't have a name for it – but we called it Jenova. But she was eventually sealed away..."

"So you're saying ... Ultimecia and Jenova are the same being?" asked Ellone nervously. "You're saying Ultimecia used Doctor Odine's machine _in our future _to travel to your planet and brought about destruction there _in your past?_"

Lucrecia nodded gravely. "I believe so. What I'm experiencing here is quite bizarre ... it seems I've gone back in time to the _origins _of Jenova. I mean, Ultimecia."

"Then that means we're playing right into Ultimecia's trap," said Laguna. "She _knows _what the machine will do. She knows we're trying to make it transport physical matter, and she wants us to do it so she can go to other worlds! She doesn't want us to fix it to go to the future at all!"

"CORRECTION, Laguna," interrupted Odine. "You do not know if this is vot she wants. Vot she vants is time compression, and zat is only achievable in ze future. Ze future of _our _world. Vot good will it do for her to go to ze world where she vos killed? Nothing!"

"But what if she wants the power of the Lifestream?" said Ellone. "Just as Lucrecia said, Ultimecia might have brought the Lifestream here when she tried to compress time. She'll be uncontrollably powerful if she can control the Lifestream, and not only that, but Lucrecia's Planet will crumble! We have to send Lucrecia back to her world and stop working on the machine at once. It's far too risky."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Odine, horrified. "You think I vould give up on such a scientific breakthrough? Travelling through _worlds, _for Hyne's sake! Think of ze possibilities! I vill _never _destroy this machine."

"But what about Ultimecia!" argued Ellone.

"She vill kill us if we stop working on ze machine," snapped Odine. "You must think logically, Ellone, not morally. Ze secret to defeating Ultimecia may be on Lucrecia's planet, for it vas there zat ze Cetra were able to seal her away. We'll scrap ze idea of transporting people to ze past to find a way of defeating Ultimecia. Ze new plan is to perfect ze machine so we can freely move across worlds. And ve vill keep it secret from Ultimecia, ve vill pretend ve haven't progressed at all but all ze while ve vill find a way to defeat her! Ve von't make ze same mistake as our future counterparts – ve vill not let her use ze machine at all. Zis is what you would call fate, Ellone!"

Ellone truly wanted to believe Odine, but she could not find the words to agree with him. If fate was truly inescapable, then it meant that it was only inevitable that Ultimecia would find a way to get to the other world no matter how hard they tried to hide it from her. Was changing the future possible at all...?

* * *

The Shera landed on a clear area of land right in front of a small village before a series of grand mountains. The sky was dark, it being about midnight or so, making the mountains look dangerous and very uninviting. Nibelheim was well-lit, with the occasional lights winking in the distance. Rinoa didn't feel very tired and was somewhat curious as to what kind of adventure this mission would bring.

"Vincent should be waiting for you guys at the inn," said Yuffie. "He knows more about this stuff than I do, so you guys meet up with them while I catch up on some sleep on the Shera, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for the help, Yuffie," said Cloud sarcastically.

"Hey, working for the WRO means I don't get a good night's sleep often!" argued Yuffie. "Cut me some slack!"

"Rinoa, maybe you should get some rest too," said Cloud. "It's been a long day for you."

"I'm not tired," chirped Rinoa. "I've been through tougher situations. Can I come with you?"

"It's pretty dangerous up in the mountains," said Cloud.

"Come on, Cloud," said Tifa, "You're not her father. Rinoa, if you'd like to come then you can. Your magic casting might come in handy."

"Great, thanks, Tifa!" said Rinoa, grinning at Tifa. She was glad that _someone _finally understood her.

"All right then, you three go on ahead," said Cid. "Yuffie and I'll be here if you need anything or if you're ready to leave."

"And if you need something, it better be important!" said Yuffie.

"Yeah, yeah," said Cloud, waving his hand dismissively. "Let's meet Vincent then."

The trio entered the village to find that most people were asleep in their homes. The only life outside was the stray animals wandering about, but other than that, the streets were empty.

"I really hate coming here," murmured Tifa, looking up at a huge mansion sullenly.

"Why?" asked Rinoa curiously.

"This village is the village where Cloud and I grew up," said Tifa.

"That's why you hate it?" asked Rinoa, confused.

"No, no," said Tifa.

"A few years ago, a guy called Sephiroth went crazy and burned the entire village down," said Cloud solemnly. "Nothing was left. Our families were slaughtered."

Rinoa gasped, cupping her mouth with her hands. "Oh, that's horrible..."

"Everything you see here is fake," said Cloud. "The people who live here pretend to know nothing happened. It's because Sephiroth was working for Shinra, and if the world ever found out about happened here, people would lose confidence in the body that governs them. So Shinra paid these people off to live here and cover up the lie."

Rinoa couldn't help but wonder if anybody would have done something like that in her world. Were any of the places she had visited a lie, covered up by the corruption of the government...?

The party of three entered the inn complex and were greeted by the sleepy-looking receptionist.

"Oh, I was just about to close up reception," she said, yawning. "It's a hundred gil a night for a room, travellers."

"We're not here to stay," said Cloud. "Could you direct us to Vincent Valentine's room? He's a friend of ours."

"Oh, do you mean the guy with the gun?" she asked. "He was in room 201. But he left about an hour ago."

Cloud cocked his head in surprise. "Left? He checked out?"

The receptionist shook her head with another yawn. "No, no, he said he said he had orders to investigate the old Mako reactor up in the mountains. He didn't look so lively, though."

Tifa looked at Cloud quizzically. "I guess he went on ahead without us."

"So much for teamwork," murmured Rinoa, but neither Cloud nor Tifa heard her.

Cloud thanked the receptionist and the three of them left the inn. Cloud led the way in a hurried power-walk speed with Tifa and Rinoa trailing behind him at a comfortable pace. Rinoa wondered if it was Cloud's adventurous side showing itself, or perhaps it was the fact that Cloud wanted to discover what was going on with Vincent.

The trio passed the Shinra mansion, which gave off such an eerie air that it made shivers crawl up and down Rinoa's spine. They then proceeded onto the trail which led to Mount Nibel, the trail winding up towards the grandeur of the mountains. On top, Cloud explained, was the Reactor that they were going to investigate. As they pressed onto the mountain trail, Rinoa already began to feel a bit chilly and wondered whether it was because the temperature had dropped, or whether it was because the dark mountains looked like something out of a horror film. The darkness of the night enveloped the entire landscape, with hardly any light to illuminate their path other than the minor twinkling of the stars. Not only that, but the wind was whistling through the air shrilly, as if ghosts were crying and flying past them.

They were only at the base of the mountain but Rinoa noticed a dark figure in the distance, human in shape, but bending over as if they were in pain.

"W-What's that?" asked Rinoa, grabbing onto Tifa's shoulder with one hand and pointing at the figure with the other. "A monster...?"

"I told you it would be dangerous," said Cloud.

"That doesn't look like a monster," said Tifa, approaching with caution. "It looks like..."

"Vincent!" said Cloud, alarmed.

Cloud and Tifa dropped their guard and ran up towards their still companion in the distance. Rinoa breathed a quick sigh of relief, but upon realising that her companions were so far from her and not wanting to be left alone for too long, darted quickly after them.

"Vincent, are you all right?" asked Tifa, bending down and taking his arm gently.

Vincent Valentine looked sickly pale and weak. He was bent down on one knee, his knuckles buckled to the ground firmly. His dark yet rugged appearance instantly made Rinoa shy of him but very curious about who he was, and his eyes seemed to be full of a mystery waiting to be solved.

"I'm fine," murmured Vincent, but his voice clearly gave off a sound of pain.

"What's happened?" asked Cloud. "Were you attacked?"

Vincent shook his head and attempted to stand upright, struggling greatly. "No," he responded. "I've contracted Geostigma..."

Tifa gasped. "Oh no..."

Vincent glanced at Rinoa but did not ask of her, and looked back at Cloud and Tifa to continue his story. "Before I came to Nibelheim at Reeve's request, I went to Lucrecia's waterfall. I haven't informed anyone yet, but her body has disappeared unexplainably."

Tifa and Cloud exchanged worried looks.

"Not only that," murmured Vincent, "but the crystal she sealed herself in was in fact crystallised Mako. The Crystal Cave is actually a Mako Spring. As I examined the area that Lucrecia had left vacant, I was enveloped by the Lifestream – but it was slightly poisoned with Jenova cells."

"We should get you to Aerith's church," said Cloud.

Vincent shook his head. "That can wait. We must first finish our task."

"But you're in pain," protested Tifa.

"I can take it," said Vincent firmly.

"Is this why you came out to the mountains on your own?" asked Cloud.

Vincent shook his head again. "I must warn you ... the Chaos gene is disagreeing with the invasion of the Jenova cells. I came out here to be far from the people in the village in case I lose control of myself ... I wanted to investigate this alone before you came in case I..."

"Don't worry, you won't hurt us," said Tifa boldly. "Reeve sent us all out for a reason – because it's a team effort."

"Her too?" mumbled Vincent, nodding in Rinoa's direction.

Rinoa suddenly felt nervous when Vincent addressed her, his fearful eyes staring at her lifelessly.

"Uh, well, no," said Cloud, scratching his head. "This is Rinoa. She's here for the ride, I guess, but she's a really good spell-caster. It's a long story. Rinoa, this is Vincent."

Vincent kept a firm gaze on Rinoa without a word, almost suspiciously.

"Let's go," said Cloud.

Cloud and Tifa continued down the mountain trail, but Vincent and Rinoa were still fixated in their encounter position.

"Nice to meet you," Rinoa spoke up with a smile. "I'm Rinoa Heartilly." She stuck out her hand so she could shake his politely, but she noticed one of his hands was mechanical and the other free arm was tightly holding onto a gun.

"Is that your true name?" asked Vincent emotionlessly.

Rinoa was slightly alarmed at his question but tried not to show it in her expression. "Of course it is."

"Hmph," said Vincent in response. He eyed Rinoa's hand, which was still stuck out and waiting to be shaken, as if he wasn't accustomed to greeting people in such a manner, and took her hand in his...

"Urgh!" groaned Vincent suddenly as their hands touched, falling to his knees again and shaking violently.

Rinoa's eyes widened in shock and she quickly released her grip on Vincent's hand. "A-are you all right?"

Vincent ripped off the black bandages around his human arm to look at it and Rinoa almost felt sick when she saw ghastly black sores plaguing his skin which began to ooze with a strange black discharge. He looked back at her, and the calm, mysterious tinge in his eyes flashed into piercing, dangerous ones. His pupils dilated and turned an eerie yellow-red right before his form began to shift – magnificent, beastly wings protruded from his back, and a leathery-looking hide formed over his head and chest. A bright blue light emanated from his abdomen where his heart would have been. For a moment, Rinoa was entranced in the presence of such a grand creature until it made an inhuman roaring noise that terrified her.

"V-Vincent...?" said Rinoa in almost a whisper, as she took a step backwards.

Upon the sound of her voice, Vincent's free arm seized Rinoa's neck in a motion that was far too quick to detect. Rinoa cried out in pain at his cold touch, and grabbed the hand wrung around her neck with both her own in attempt to force them off. But it was futile – she was far too weak compared to the beast, and he lifted her off the ground with a single arm without any difficulty. Rinoa choked in pain, unable to breathe in or out or do anything at all...

"Rinoa!"

Cloud's voice could be heard in the distance, and Rinoa saw in the corner of her eye that Cloud and Tifa were running back to the scene, completely alarmed at what was going on.

"Chaos must be trying to fight off the Geostigma and Vincent's lost control," Cloud said to Tifa.

"So what do we do?" cried Tifa. "If we hurt Chaos, we hurt Vincent!"

"He's going to kill Rinoa if we don't do something," said Cloud urgently, pulling out his sword. "We'll just wound him and tire him out, Vincent can handle that!"

"A-All right," said Tifa reluctantly, pulling on her leather combat gloves quickly.

Rinoa heard the plan and tried her best as well. She conjured up a fire spell in her mind, but Vincent's grip on her was far too strong that no sound escaped from her lips to cast the spell. His fingers around her neck were so powerful and painful that it felt like he was going to snap her neck at any minute ... he was clearly physically strong to do it there and then, but what was stopping him?

And then she saw it – a quick flash of calm mysteriousness in Chaos's eyes that momentarily led to an ease on the strain around her–

Chaos screeched in agony suddenly, letting go of Rinoa – Cloud had slashed into the beast's back with a swing of his sword and Tifa packed a crushing punch. Any easiness in its eyes was completely gone as Chaos was angered from being attacked. Rinoa fell to the ground with a painful thud, but this pain was weighed up by the luxury of being able to breathe again. She gasped for breath, clambering across the ground on all fours before trying to get up again.

"Rinoa, run away!" shouted Cloud whilst Chaos's attention was temporarily focused on Cloud and Tifa.

Rinoa didn't want to argue this time and turned on her heel to flee, although her head felt light and her lungs were working extra hard as if to try to compensate for the previous loss of breath. Chaos, as if understanding Rinoa's intentions to escape and losing interest in his attackers, turned back and darted towards the teenager.

Rinoa shrieked in pain when Chaos's talons seized her by the throat, but it seemed he didn't have the intention of killing her this time as his grip was as suffocating as before. Rinoa then realised why this was as soon as she heard the beating of wings, and before long, they were airborne. Chaos must have wanted to get away from the attackers and finish Rinoa off without their intervention. But she wondered why was it that he had no interest in killing them, yet he was so set on slaughtering her...?

"Damn it!" shouted Cloud, but any discussion he had with Tifa after that was unheard as Chaos flew further and further away from the ground, with Rinoa wriggling in fear.


	8. A New Mission

**Chapter Eight**

**A New Mission**

"Oh come _on, _there so _is _something going on between Zack and Aerith," said Selphie, sticking her tongue out at Zell. "They're always together and ... well ... he's always so protective of her!"

"But _that's _because they're ... ya know ... from the same place!" said Zell.

Squall sat with his friends on the ship, amazed at how much his companions could gossip mindlessly. They had been at it ever since he returned from visiting the Avalanche Forest Owls in their prison cell. But he had known them all long and well enough not to mind anymore – in fact, he might have secretly enjoyed the conversations they had, although not having much to contribute himself. Lynette, on the other hand, sat next him with an unimpressed look on her face for the entire trip.

"Come on, Zell, just admit it, you have the hots for Aerith," said Irvine, punching Zell in the arm.

Zell flushed a bright red, and Squall wasn't sure whether it was from embarrassment or from utter fury. "What the hell are you goin' on about? Of course I don't!"

Selphie stood up suddenly, almost knocking Quistis over in the process, and pointed at Zell accusingly. "Hah! YOU'RE DENYING IT! It must be true then!"

"How does that work!" exclaimed Zell, getting up angrily and glaring at Selphie. "She's what, ten years older than us?"

"She can't be _that _much older," said Quistis with a chuckle.

"So juvenile," murmured Lynette.

Squall turned to look at her. "You're about our age, aren't you? This is what teenagers do."

Lynette scrunched her face disapprovingly. "I'm a sorceress. I have better things to do than discuss such insignificant things with humans."

"So I do," said Squall. "It's all right to have fun once in a while. It reminds you that you're still human."

He didn't want to admit it, but he could understand Rinoa's ideals now. He wondered if he would be able to keep true to her preaching when she returned. Ever since Squall and Rinoa became so close, he couldn't help but sometimes keep up his anti-social habits just to stay true to himself and have Rinoa pick him up for the sake of it. He didn't even notice it, but he was becoming more and more like Rinoa when she wasn't around. Would he stay like this when Rinoa came back, or would he revert back to his old self just to satisfy his pride, and to prevent Rinoa from knowing that she had such an impact on him?

Before Lynette could respond, Zack came into the cabin merrily. "Land ahoy!" he said cheerfully. "We're in Esthar now!"

"All right!" said Selphie, jumping to her feet and clapping her hands excitedly.

"You've all been behaving yourselves, I hope," said Aerith, popping up at the doorway beside Zack.

"Of course, we can stay out of trouble if we tried," said Irvine, grinning.

The party disembarked the ship after it anchored at the port. The area was cold and frosty, a significant change from the warm climate in the Centra region. The Great Salt Lake looked undisturbed and the bridge that led to Galbadia via Fisherhman's Horizon still stood tall.

"Lady Lynette, there you are."

Seifer approached the group, looking at Lynette particularly. "I've been informed about your powers being sealed. Lady Aerith, do you know anything about this?"

Aerith, surprised about being called upon, shook her head.

"You're a sorceress too?" asked Lynette, looking at Aerith.

"Ah, y-yes," said Aerith, with a nervous laugh.

"How can you be allies with these humans?" asked Lynette, her eyes widening.

"That's what I was wondering," muttered Seifer.

"Oh, well, humans or sorceresses – everyone's a friend to me," said Aerith with a smile.

Lynette stared at Aerith as if she were a lunatic.

"Ugh, I'll have to take you to the Sorceress Knights headquarters in Esthar City to figure this out then," said Seifer. "I have business there anyway. Are you ready to leave?"

"We're going to Esthar City too," said Squall. "Perhaps we can all go together." He figured that travelling with Seifer and Lynette would give them an advantage – they'd be able to navigate through the place and learn valuable things about the new world. Not only that, but he had to somehow convince Seifer to let the Avalanche Forest Owls free.

"Pfft," said Seifer, struggling to contain his displeasure of being stuck with the group any longer.

"I don't see the harm in it," said Lynette.

"...Fine," said Seifer, sighing. "But after that – we part ways. Got it?"

* * *

As Odine and Lucrecia engineered the time machine together with much scientific discussion, Ellone and Laguna sat downstairs and chatted about random things, seeing as how they had nothing else to do. In the middle of their conversation about restaurants in Esthar and Chocobos and Hyne-knows-what-else, the doorbell sounded at the front door of the laboratory.

"Who could that be?" asked Ellone. "No one ever comes here."

"You don't think it's ... Ultimecia, do you?" said Laguna, gulping.

"No, Ultimecia wouldn't knock – she'd just teleport into the room in a cloud of smoke," said Ellone, shaking her head. "I don't want to get the door. I'm not allowed anywhere close to it, or else Ultimecia's barrier will zap me."

"But I really just got comfortable in my spot here..." said Laguna, frowning.

The bell chimed again, and it continually chimed as if whoever at the door was impatient and kept buzzing the button.

"Come on, Uncle Laguna, don't be so lazy," said Ellone. "You're Ultimecia's door man, remember?"

"I'm not a door man, I'm her 'bumbling servant'," said Laguna, folding his arms. "Jeez, one minute I'm president of this place and the next I'm a servant..."

"Well someone has to get the door," said Ellone over the loud ringing.

The lift from the upstairs lab descended and Lucrecia came down, looking quite annoyed. "That noise is quite irritating," she said crossly. "Aren't any of you two going to get the door?"

Ellone and Laguna pointed at each other quickly, like two children blaming an accident on one another before an angry parent.

"Oh for crying out loud," murmured Lucrecia, throwing her hands in the air and walking to the door.

Ellone and Laguna burst out laughing.

"Yes?" said Lucrecia, as she opened the door. "...No, I'm sorry. Doctor Odine is in the middle of something important at the moment and cannot be disturbed."

"Wow, Doctor Odine has friends," said Laguna, chuckling. "Amazing."

"...I'm sure it can wait," said Lucrecia. "Please come back tomorrow."

"No, we can't wait!"

Ellone's head shot up at the sound of the loud, high-pitched voice, like a dog hearing its owner return home. There was no mistaking who that was. It had to be who she thought it was...

"PLEEEEASE!"

Ellone bolted up and ran to the door beside Lucrecia, and her suspicions were confirmed – it was Selphie Tilmitt who had cried out in protest, and she was surrounded by the rest of the SeeD members.

"Squall! Everyone!" exclaimed Ellone, her heart soaring with happiness. "Oh Hyne, you're all okay!"

Lucrecia stepped aside for Ellone to run outside and greet her friends, only to be knocked back to the floor by the invisible magical barrier that Ultimecia had put in place to prevent Ellone from leaving.

"ELLONE?" cried Irvine, Zell, Quistis and Selphie at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know these were friends of yours," said Lucrecia. She signalled for the visitors to come inside. "Come in, all of you."

The group went into the laboratory without hesitation, the teenagers crowding around Ellone. Lucrecia noticed two slightly older people in the group – one had a familiar colour in his eyes, and his clothes seemed vaguely memorable...

Laguna and Odine had abandoned their stations and came rushing to the door at the sound of all the commotion. Lucrecia thought it ironic that nobody wanted to answer the door, but now everyone was rushing to see their visitors.

"Sis, you remember us," said Squall, helping Ellone up from the floor. "I'm relieved..."

Ellone threw her arms around Squall, her eyes welling up with tears of joy. "And _you_ all remember _me_. This ... this is so great..."

"Squall, my boy!" said Laguna cheerfully. "You're all safe. I _knew _I could count on you to stay alive! Told you so, Odine."

"Oh shut up," snapped Odine. "Zis is excellent news. Excellent, excellent news. Ve have much to discuss."

"Yes, we do," said Squall, breaking the embrace with Ellone. "Too much to discuss, unfortunately."

* * *

"Are you really going to let those knaves go free, Sir Seifer?" asked Lynette, as she and Seifer headed for the local office of the Sorceress Knights. "What they did absolutely _cannot _be taken lightly! Capturing a sorceress and sealing her powers ... it's simply _unforgiveable_."

Seifer shook her head. "Of course I'm not going to let them go free. I was just saying I'd do my best so those damn annoying punks would get off my case."

Lynette laughed hollowly. "They are the odd bunch, aren't they?"

"I think that's a bit of an understatement," muttered Seifer. "I'm just glad I don't have to deal with them anymore."

"But what about your colleague?" asked Lynette.

"What colleague?"

"The guy called Squall," said Lynette. "Isn't he your colleague?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," said Seifer, shuddering at the thought of fighting alongside someone as stubborn as him. _He's too much like me for my liking, even down to that damn scar. _

Before Lynette could pursue the issue any further, the pair of them arrived at the three-storey office building with a simple sign at the doorway reading _Office of the Sorceress Knights. _It didn't stand out amongst the other buildings in the industrialised city – it looked just like just another office.

Seifer and Lynette entered through the automatic glass doors and stepped into a plain lobby, which was virtually deserted. The Esthar region was only stationed with inferior knights, so this simple office was all the area needed to deal with administrative matters and easier missions. But that day must have been a quiet one, for there weren't any knights occupying the office lobby.

"Wait here while I get someone, Lady Lynette," said Seifer.

As Seifer was about to leave Lynette to head for reception, the automatic glass doors opened and Seifer could feel a tense presence in the room all of a sudden. The blonde turned around curiously to find a tall, mysterious man with long silver hair in black leather clothes and silver plated armour. His intense eyes were riddled with flecks of striking green – and it was then that Seifer realised that this was the man he was hunting for. It was this man that was claimed to have the sorceress-like powers and killed some knights with it, and after all the drama he had crossed, he almost forgot that this was the very reason as to why he was in Esthar in the first place.

_Lucky me, _thought Seifer haughtily.

Seifer unsheathed his gunblade hastily and was quick to take an offensive position against the mysterious silver-haired man. But it was as if the stranger could sense Seifer's movement and intention to threaten him minutes before Seifer even moved, and pulled out a massive katana. As the two blades clashed against one another loudly, Lynette gasped and took a step back from the two men warily.

Seifer tried to hide his shock at how quick the stranger's reflexes were. "You. Who are you? Explain your presence here."

The silver-haired man smirked, keeping his katana against Seifer's. "I don't need to answer to you, whoever you are."

"Yes, you do," said Seifer, glaring menacingly. "I'm Seifer Almasy, Rank A Sorceress Knight. _Everyone _answers to me."

"Such arrogance," sneered the stranger. "You'll find it useful to know that _I _don't answer to any man. Put your sword away and I'll let you walk free."

Seifer's anger deepened, but he tried to keep a cool head. Why was everyone so defiant of him all of a sudden...? "I should be saying that to _you_. I've been ordered to find you and investigate you. So, it'll save us a lot of trouble if you co-operated and followed my instructions."

The silver-haired man raised his eyebrows, amused. "Did you not just say you were _ordered _to find me? I thought _everyone _answered to you."

Seifer clenched his teeth, the urge to rip this man into shreds overcoming him. "Why you..."

"Put your blade away, soldier, or you'll regret it," the stranger said threateningly.

The order didn't even process through Seifer's mind. All he could think about was teaching this man a lesson, and he didn't hesitate to do it. Feigning obedience, Seifer began to lower his gunblade, only to launch a swift strike from below.

The mysterious silver-haired man was quick to react, swinging his blade downwards to block the attack. His speed was immense, almost too immense for Seifer to fathom at all.

"You've made a big mistake, soldier," murmured the silver-haired man. He pulled his blade back and sheathed his katana, only to hold out his empty gloved hand. "Ice."

Before Seifer could wonder what was going on, sharp particles of ice flew from the mysterious man's palm and flew at Seifer at high speed, piercing into his skin and freezing up his body. Seifer groaned in pain, but the pain was nothing compared to what he was trained for.

"Magic," mumbled Seifer. "But how...?"

"You may want to show some respect," the silver-haired man said, narrowing his eyes with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Who or _what _are you?" demanded Seifer.

"I don't need to answer the likes of you," the stranger repeated.

"You'll answer me or I'll force an answer out of you!" shouted Seifer, frustrated. He lifted his gunblade again and charged up to his opponent, swinging his sword recklessly with only venting out his anger in mind. He was fighting with his frustration rather than his wits, which might have made his attacks seem stronger, but he was much slower and clumsier in his movement. In response, Seifer's foe wielded his katana with extreme force against Seifer's blade, knocking the blonde backwards and into a marble statue of Ultimecia. The impact made the statue shatter into pieces loudly.

Lynette's eyes widened, but she was paralysed with fear. She could only stare at Seifer helplessly. As Seifer tried to get up, the slow sound of footsteps clicking against the marble floor could be heard descending the stairs from the reception area.

"What _is _all of the fuss here?" purred a deep yet feminine voice.

Seifer got to his feet and turned around sharply, wondering if the stranger had called for backup. He was astonished at who had appeared before them, and quickly got on one knee in respect, not looking into the powerful woman's eyes. He hardly expected _Queen Ultimecia _herself to be in the office of the Sorceress Knights in Esthar...

"Your Highness," said Seifer promptly. He had only been in her presence once before, and that was when he was commissioned a Rank A knight after all of his hard work...

"At ease, knight," said Ultimecia. "Tell me what this ungodly racket is all about."

Seifer stood up on his feet, but continued to maintain a straight and contained posture. "I'm Rank A Sorceress Knight Seifer Almasy. I've been assigned a mission to investigate _that man _as he's been reported to possess sorceress-like powers and has been using them to kill civilians and other knights."

"Oh ho, my, the knights in this area are slow to report the news," said Ultimecia. "That man there is General Sephiroth, who I have personally appointed to be the Captain of the Sorceress Knights."

"_What?" _exclaimed Seifer, his eyes widening. He understood now why Sephiroth had warned him not to be defiant. Sephiroth was his _superior. _But this simply angered Seifer even more. This strange man wasn't even a Rank A knight to begin with – otherwise Seifer would've heard of him – yet he was able to swipe the title of being captain of the knights? And there Seifer was, working hard for years to become respected and to get to where he was, but this Sephiroth shows up mysteriously and is handed the prize for not even _doing _anything...

"Don't worry, Highness, I'll let his ignorance slide this time," said Sephiroth smugly. "You needn't punish him."

Ultimecia shrugged. "Very well, if you say so."

Seifer clenched his fist furiously, trying his hardest to restrain himself from stepping out of line.

"Did you have some business here, knight?" asked Ultimecia. "Or did you come here looking for Sephiroth's head, only to find his head is not wanted ... I wouldn't want you to have wasted your time..."

Seifer maintained a professional demeanour. "Yes, Your Highness. Actually, on the ship bound for Esthar, Lady Lynette here was met with some criminals who had somehow managed to seal her power. I was hoping someone here would be able to investigate, but I think you of all people would be the best to examine her."

Ultimecia's calm expression suddenly turned into one of concern. She looked at Lynette, who was still silent and frozen after experiencing Sephiroth's great power.

"Come, child," said Ultimecia, calling Lynette forth.

Lynette stepped forward, bowing her head respectfully at her queen before showing Ultimecia the bracelet she was wearing that had sealed her powers. As Ultimecia examined the bracelet, her calm expression snapped into a hot, furious glare that might have been enough to boil water.

"This," murmured Ultimecia, grinding her teeth. "That damn Odine..."

"S-So ... how do I get it off?" asked Lynette shakily.

"You needn't worry, child," said Ultimecia. "Come with me, I will help you." She turned to Sephiroth. "You come too, General." She looked at Seifer. "Knight, you're dismissed."

Ultimecia and Lynette began to walk towards the stairs to the upper level of the office. Seifer stared, simply shocked at how easily he was brushed off. After all, _he _was the one who had gone to all the trouble to capture the culprits and to bring Lynette to the office. If it wasn't for _him, _the terrorists probably would have gotten away…

"W-Wait!" called out Seifer. "Don't you want to know who did this? Don't you want to know where they are?"

"Sephiroth can deal with it later," said Ultimecia, not turning around to look at the knight. "You may go."

She and Lynette disappeared up the stairs, leaving only Sephiroth and Seifer in the room. Seifer glowered dangerously at the tall general, trying to control his overflowing outrage from spilling out.

"It appears you're redundant, boy," said Sephiroth. "You should go back to Headquarters and deal with your other missions. It's an order."

"Tch," began Seifer, wanting to hurl something at Sephiroth's face.

"You're dismissed," said Sephiroth, turning on his heel and following the sorceresses up the stairs.

"_Order _my ass," murmured Seifer, heading out of the administration office. The defiant streak in him emerged once again, with the urge to outdo Sephiroth taking over his mind like a virus. He still could not believe that after all his hard work; a stranger had beaten him to the top position. "We'll see who's redundant."

Seifer pulled out his PDA-looking electronic device that stored all of his mission files and the Order of the Knights' Intelligence. He opened up the citizen database and typed in 'Odine', guessing the spelling from how Ultimecia had pronounced the word. The search results that appeared were vast – after all, the information of every single adult in the world was stored there. He filtered the results to show those living in Esthar city, and the first result was the most interesting.

Seifer noted the address of Doctor Odine and sought to track this character down. He knew Sephiroth had ordered him to return to Ultimecia Castle, but Seifer was no stranger to disobeying orders to pursue his ambitions. He was going to get to the bottom of this at all costs.

* * *

"...I'm sorry, everyone," said Squall with a heavy sigh after finishing his story. "We were supposed to kill her, but our strength wasn't enough. Not only that, but we've lost Rinoa as well."

Ellone put her hand on Squall's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't think too negatively, Squall. I have a feeling she's all right. Do you want to know why?"

Squall looked at Ellone curiously, but did not ask.

"Ultimecia showed me a picture of her and asked me if I knew her," said Ellone. "She wants to find Rinoa too. Ultimecia said Rinoa was important to her. That means Ultimecia can't have killed her – it means she's out there _somewhere_."

"R-Really?" asked Squall meekly.

"Yes, so don't give up hope," said Ellone with a smile.

"Right," said Squall strongly, nodding.

"I see, I see," said Odine, quickly scribbling in his notebook. "Now, I am interested in your friends here." He nodded at Zack and Aerith. "You say you're supposed to be dead. Please explain."

"Um ... well," said Zack, scratching his head. "What is there to explain? I was killed by Shinra and Aerith was killed by Sephiroth the nutter and—"

Lucrecia gasped, almost falling out of her chair. "D-Did you just say _Sephiroth?_"

"Y-Yeah, why?" said Zack nervously.

Lucrecia tried not to meet Zack's gaze. "I had a son named Sephiroth ... no, it must be a coincidence ... but _Shinra…_"

"No, no, no!" said Odine, jumping up on his feet. "Nothing is a coincidence! If _zey _are supposed to be dead, and _you _are supposed to be dead..."

"...Then we must be from the same Planet," said Aerith. "Lifestream. Mako. Shinra."

Lucrecia's glassy eyes met Aerith's, her mind spinning with thoughts of her son. She quickly shook them out of her head to face the task at hand. "...Yes. It's all true."

"_Astonishing!" _exclaimed Odine excitedly. "Zis is a major breakthrough ... oh my, oh my, it is simply astonishing..."

"Wow, it's a small world," whispered Selphie. "Or should I say, small _two _worlds."

"Interesting," said Odine, recording the conversation in his notes. "So ve have established you're all from ze same planet. And as you are both dead, it means your beings had returned to ze Lifestream, no? Yet somehow you have made your way here after ze time compression spell. It must mean Lucrecia's theory of Ultimecia bringing ze Lifestream here is correct..."

Odine, Lucrecia and Aerith continued to converse and speculate about the link between the two planets and what it had to do with Ultimecia. Everyone else eventually began to lose interest when the three talked about people or things they didn't know or understand. Zell and Zack were competing against each other to see who could do the most push ups in the corner, Irvine and Selphie were chattering and poking each other playfully, and Quistis, Ellone and Laguna were whispering and trying to make sense of what Odine, Lucrecia and Aerith were talking about, but most of it consisted of making fun of Odine.

"We need to confirm the theory that Jenova and Ultimecia is the same person," said Lucrecia. "I would be able to do that if I had a sample of Ultimecia's blood. I'll be able to recognise the Jenova cells."

"I was able to wound her when we battled her," said Squall. "Maybe some traces of her blood are still on my gunblade."

Lucrecia clapped her hands together. "Excellent. That would help greatly. May I see?"

Squall stood up and handed his gunblade to Lucrecia. The weight of the weapon was overwhelming to the professor, weighing her down with the tip falling to the floor. Squall helped her by lifting the blade with ease and putting it onto the examination table.

Just then, the buzzer from the front door sounded, and seeing as how everyone was preoccupied and he had no other purpose, Squall got up to answer it.

"_You?_"

Squall was just as surprised to see Seifer standing at Odine's laboratory just as Seifer was to see Squall there.

"So _you're _connected with this Odine guy," said Seifer angrily. "Did you have something to do with the sealing of Lynette's powers?"

_How does he know about Odine?_ thought Squall, but had to quickly come up with a response.

"Answer me!" growled Seifer. "I _knew _there was something suspicious about you..."

"Have you come here to arrest us again?" said Squall, rolling his eyes.

"Who is it, Squall?" came Ellone's voice from behind.

"It's just Seifer, sis," said Squall.

"Seifer!" exclaimed Ellone happily. "You've found us too! I'm so happy!" She ran up to Seifer and threw her arms around him gleefully.

"W-What the hell?" shouted Seifer, pushing Ellone off of him, as he had no clue who she was. "You people are _crazy ... _I should have you all arrested and investigated!"

Ellone frowned, letting her arms fall to her side. "It seems you've forgotten us. Come inside, Seifer."

Seifer's anger turned to mere confusion, much to Squall's amusement. The blonde knight eventually succumbed to Ellone's instruction and his own curiosity and followed her into the laboratory, with Squall closing the door behind them. The ex-SeeD also couldn't help but wonder why Ellone was being so welcoming – the last time she had heard from him was when he had tried to sacrifice Rinoa to Adel.

"All right, Seifer," said Ellone, "the floor's not too hard. See you in a few minutes."

"What?" shouted Seifer. "What the hell are y– urghhh..." He held his head in pain, trying to resist Ellone's firm hold on his consciousness, but failed as he fell to the floor helplessly.

"Oh, I see what you've done," said Squall. "Sending him to his past so he can remember everything, right?"

Ellone nodded. "It's what I did to Doctor Odine and Uncle Laguna."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Squall. "Even before time was compressed, he was working for Ultimecia. If anything, he'll just be even more aggravated."

"Squall, don't you have any faith in your friends?" asked Ellone.

_Seifer's not what I'd call a 'friend', _thought Squall. _And even if he was, it's a little bit hard to have faith in someone who has tried to kill you multiple times._

"Seifer was brainwashed by Ultimecia," said Ellone. "He was one of us – one of the orphans. He was one of _you – _a Garden student. Can't you remember all the noble things he's done? He's not a bad person..."

_Even still, you can't be so trusting, _thought Squall. _It's naive to believe that people stay the same forever. He was once our friend, but he was also once our enemy. He still _is_ our enemy. _

"He'll come around," said Ellone, nodding confidently. "He'll help us."

"Don't count on it," said Squall grimly.

He walked away from the pile of Seifer on the floor and headed back to where the discussion between Odine and the newcomers were, Ellone following him. When they returned, Lucrecia was examining a sample of blood under Odine's microscope.

"What did we miss?" asked Squall.

"Lucrecia was able to confirm zat ze cells in Ultimecia's blood are indeed exactly identical to Jenova cells," said Odine.

"Lucrecia took a sample of my blood," said Aerith. "If I'm a sorceress, then that should mean that I should have Jenova cells."

"Let us just call zem Sorceress cells for convenience," said Odine.

"I see," said Squall. "So how is it looking, Professor?"

Lucrecia turned around. "Negative. Aerith's blood does not contain any traces of Sorceress cells. I estimated that this would be the case, as the Cetra have been on The Planet long before Ultimecia/Jenova had arrived. So the most logical conclusion is that Aerith is not a sorceress – she merely has powers that are similar to those of a sorceress of your world. This also explains why the people of my Planet mistook Ultimecia to be a Cetra, because they seem to have similar traits."

Squall nodded slowly, slightly relieved that Aerith was not really a sorceress, otherwise things would have been somewhat difficult. However, this situation could still be used to their advantage as nobody else could seem to tell that she _wasn't _a sorceress.

"So, what's the plan now?" asked Squall.

Odine smiled, a gesture that he seldom made. It made Squall uneasy, as the smile did not look natural on him at all and actually seemed somewhat twisted and wrong.

"Professor Crescent and I have had a plan for a long while, however ve vere not sure vhen and who vill execute it," said Odine. "But now zat Squall has arrived, things vill be so much easier!"

_This doesn't sound too good, _thought Squall worriedly.

"Upon your arrival and your story of events, we have been able to ascertain crucial facts and confirm certain theories," said Lucrecia. "My first shock came from the arrival of Aerith and Zack, who are supposed to be in the Lifestream because they are dead. I'm also supposed to be dead, but I had never actually returned to the Lifestream. My theory is that the Lifestream has somehow leaked through time and space and is now present on this planet, which explains why Materia works."

"But didn't you tell me that the Lifestream is a flow of energy, Aerith?" asked Squall.

"It is," said Lucrecia before Aerith could open her mouth. "This must mean that the Lifestream is materialising _physically_ onto this planet. Ultimecia wants something from the Lifestream of our planet for _this_ planet, and thus she has compressed time and space so that she could gain control of the Lifestream. However, the fact that Ultimecia wants to travel indicates that the Lifestream is not in a condition that is satisfactory to her."

"So Ultimecia has been after the Lifestream this whole time," murmured Squall. It made sense, somewhat, as Ultimecia's motives of compressing time were never clear.

Odine nodded. "I believe she wants ze Lifestream to somehow manipulate our world. It is a source of energy and power – why would she not want it? Ze Lifestream would indeed help her create ze perfect world."

"But our planet needs the Lifestream to survive," said Aerith quietly. "If the Lifestream is drained and put onto this planet, our planet will die."

"So it's in both our interests to prevent Ultimecia from gaining control over the Lifestream," said Squall. "It would be a complete cosmic disaster if she was able to do whatever she wanted with it."

Lucrecia nodded. "Precisely. Now, there are two things that we need to do. We must first find out how Ultimecia is manipulating the Lifestream so that it leaks into this world, and we must stop this leakage. The fact that she has not yet been able to travel to the future or to my planet means that it is not out of our hands – we _can _stop it and perhaps even return it to its natural state."

"Ze next thing to do is defeat Ultimecia," said Odine. "Defeating her would mean denying her existence – she would disappear from all of time, and everything vill return to normal."

"You make both of these tasks sound so easy," said Squall, shaking his head. "They sound close to impossible. How are we supposed to find out how she's manipulating the Lifestream? There is no way she would disclose that to anybody, and I think she is smart enough to cover her tracks. Next, there is no way we can defeat Ultimecia so easily. We had the help of Guardian Forces before and we were _still_ beaten. What gives you the idea that we can defeat her without magic?"

"Squall is such a pessimist," said Aerith.

"Indeed," said Lucrecia. "A good leader thinks of solutions to problems, not come up with more problems."

"I'm merely pointing out the obvious," snapped Squall. "If we want a fighting chance, we have to think this through. There's no such thing as winning through goals and ideals alone."

"Lucky for you, we've thought of that already while you weren't around," said Laguna.

_Who asked you? _thought Squall irritably, and he realised that he hadn't been annoyed until that point because Laguna had kept quiet.

"Before, the plan was to transport someone back in time to help you guys defeat past-Ultimecia," said Laguna.

"All right, so what is it that you _do _plan to do?" asked Squall.

"We're going to send you to my world," said Lucrecia seriously. "And you will stop the leakage of Lifestream from there."

Squall groaned again in frustration. "Like I said, we have absolutely _no _leads. When we get to your planet, how are we supposed to know what to do? We have no idea how Ultimecia is doing this."

"It'll be your job to investigate, of course," said Odine. "The plan is to send a small group of you, perhaps just two or three, to investigate. Once you find out, you vill return to zis world and ve vill plan from zere. Understood?"

Squall nodded slowly.

"Ve also think zat ze key to defeating Ultimecia is in Lucrecia's world," continued Odine. "She was defeated zere once, so zere must be something zere that can help us. Look into this carefully."

"I know who defeated her," said Aerith abruptly. "I know who you have to look for."

"What? Who?" asked Squall, keen for any leads or clues.

"A great soldier," said Aerith, glancing at Zack briefly whom was not a participant in the present conversation. "His name is Cloud Strife. No, not just him – everyone. Cloud and his friends defeated Jenova. _They're _the key to defeating Ultimecia."

Squall cocked his head in curiosity, the name somehow familiar to him. _'He's just like Cloud' ... _who was it that said it...?

Before Squall could ponder any longer, Ellone looked over Squall's shoulder all of a sudden and smiled. "Seifer. How was your nap?"

Squall spun around to face Seifer, whose expression was unreadable. The blonde stared at Squall in a somewhat menacing way before opening his mouth to speak.

"Squall, you really screwed up this time," was all he said.


	9. Reunion

**Chapter Nine**

**Reunion**

"So, Seifer," said Squall, staring down Seifer cautiously, "how do you feel? Still out to get us?"

The atmosphere was tense since Seifer had regained consciousness from the flashback that Ellone had bestowed upon him, with Seifer's expression holding a stern gaze over Ellone and Squall. Zell, Irvine, Quistis and Selphie had leapt to their feet from their positions and rushed to see the commotion, for they didn't know that Seifer had arrived to begin with.

Seifer hesitated before answering. The dream-like state he was just in brought back memories he didn't know he had – was he really brainwashed by Ultimecia into following Edea and Adel? He was somewhat disturbed that he had done things like sacrifice Rinoa to Adel, but he knew that he _had_ done them. The sensation was like that feeling he got when he had to wonder whether a feeling or event was real or a dream, but this time he decisively chose reality. The question now was – what was he going to do? It had once been his dream to be a sorceress's knight but it was also once his dream to be a SeeD, and now that he was finally living out one of those dreams, he didn't need SeeD anymore. He was _somebody, _and SeeD was now nothing.

Then again, Ultimecia was a powerful force that changed the world entirely. Were sorceresses beings that would help the world or was life better before time compression? Were they good or were they evil? Whose side was he supposed to take? The woman who had given him glory or his comrades from a past life? What did he want? Did he want to save the world? Did the world even _need_ saving?

Never had Seifer faced such a dilemma. It was only now that he could exercise his free will – he had been a puppet of the sorceresses ever since Edea had taken him in at Galbadia. If he continued to serve Ultimecia, he would only continue to be a puppet, mindlessly following orders and doing the will the sorceresses.

All that remained was that part of him that wanted glory and power and respect, and frankly, that was all he wanted. So what was he to choose? Which path would lead to power and respect? To serve as a sorceress's knight, or to be a hero who saved the world from evil sorceresses? All he had to do was place a bet on the team that was most likely to win...

"I'll be honest with you," said Seifer. "I don't know what I want. When they say ignorance is bliss, they really mean it."

"You're no longer ignorant, Seifer," said Ellone. "It's not like you to blindly follow orders. You have a conscience and you have a sense of justice."

"The kid Seifer from the orphanage has grown up," said Seifer. "I'm not that kid anymore."

"But you're still the same," said Ellone quietly. "We're your friends, Seifer. Please, join us. Can you really stand to live in a world where people are oppressed by the strong?"

Quistis stood up from her station after observing the conversation and added her thoughts. "That's right. Do you really believe that the weak should have to suffer? The weak need strong people like you to protect them, not to hurt them. I thought that was the kind of man you were. Isn't that why you wanted to become a SeeD?"

Seifer glowered at Quistis. "I have no interest in becoming a SeeD anymore. I don't need to be a SeeD to prove myself."

"But you need to be in the Sorceress Knights to prove yourself?" retorted Selphie, jumping to her feet.

"That's right," said Irvine. "SeeD doesn't exist anymore. We're not acting as SeeDs or on behalf of Garden – nobody has asked us to save the world. We're doing it of our own accord."

"So what'll it be?" asked Ellone. "We don't need someone to tell us what's right – we choose for ourselves. What will you choose?"

Seifer gritted his teeth. "Flowery words for a bunch of mindless drones. You're all no different to me. You've all been brainwashed by Cid and Garden to believe sorceresses are evil. You aren't choosing anything for yourselves at all."

"We are choosing the path we believe is right," said Quistis firmly. "If we wanted to, we could succumb to the world as it is. But we aren't. We're fighting on for what _we _think is right."

"Join us!" chirped Selphie. "We're the awesome side!"

"As much as I don't like you, Seifer, it would be an advantage to have you on our side again," said Zell, nodding with approval.

"Do you all really want me on your side _that _much?" said Seifer, amazed. "Even after I betrayed you all? Even after I tried to kill you so many times? You guys are _idiots_ to trust me."

"We've known you for a long time, nearly all our lives," said Quistis. "You aren't a bad person. Annoying, maybe, but not bad. Do you remember the time you disobeyed Garden's orders and followed Squall and the other SeeDs to help out Rinoa and the Forest Owls in Timber? I tried to stop you so many times, but you wouldn't listen. You did what you thought was right – you fought alongside Squall."

"You're one of us," said Zell. "You were just brainwashed before. Now you can redeem yourself!"

"Squall, say something!" said Selphie. "Convince him to join us!"

Squall, having been silent on the issue of Seifer joining forces the whole time, scowled at Selphie.

"What do you want me to say?" snapped Squall. "'Seifer, please join us because you're so great and we need you'? Unlikely. If he really wanted to join us, he wouldn't need any convincing. If he needs us to give him a reason, then it means that his heart isn't in this and he'll just end up leaving and betraying us again, and quite frankly, I don't want to have to deal with that." Squall paused and looked directly at Seifer. "But really, I couldn't care less if Seifer was on our side or not. We've gotten along perfectly fine without him since he left Garden, and there's no reason that we can't continue without him."

Seifer smirked and then laughed, almost hysterically, applauding Squall's speech mockingly. "Same old Squall. You haven't changed a bit." He stepped towards Squall and glared at him, as if about to challenge him to a fight. "You think you know me, huh? And you think you don't need me? If I leave now, you're all going to regret it. I'm going to arrest all of you for treason and I'll get you all killed before your little adventure to overthrow the sorceresses even begins. You'll be at the mercy of Ultimecia and you'll be_ begging _for my help."

Squall simply glared back at Seifer, as if trying to think of a comeback.

But there was no need. Seifer would never have admitted it, but he wouldn't do such a thing to them – Ellone was right when she said that Seifer had a conscience. Perhaps if he hadn't regained his memories, he wouldn't have hesitated to hand them over to the authorities after finding out they were trying to overthrow the sorceress, but the fact stands that these people were once his comrades and his childhood friends. Not only that, but he owed a debt to Rinoa – they were on such good terms until Ultimecia brainwashed him...

"Wasn't Rinoa with you guys?" asked Seifer, after realising that Rinoa had not been present at all since he first met the SeeDs.

"Don't change the subject," said Squall sharply.

Seifer folded his arms, his expression once again fierce. "You're her knight and you couldn't even protect her? You truly are pathetic, Squall."

"You bastard..." It seemed Seifer struck a nerve, as Squall was quick to grab Seifer by the shirt and hold his fist against the blonde, the look in the commander's eyes clearly suggesting he wanted to beat Seifer to a pulp.

Irvine and Zell pounced on Squall, pulling him away and restraining him from starting a fight with Seifer.

Seifer adjusted his clothes so that they were straight again and smirked. "Rinoa was a good friend of mine. For her sake, and for the sake of spiting Squall, I'm gonna help you. She's a sorceress, so I'm bound to run into her sometime. Unless you let her die, of course."

Was it because of his own ego and pride Seifer had to mask this intention by putting on the façade that he was defying and challenging Squall…? Seifer didn't even know himself…

It was clear that Squall was trying to contain his boiling emotions and the urge to abuse Seifer but his cool exterior prevailed. "Does anybody have any objections?"

"I thought you'd be the only one to object, Squall," sneered Seifer.

"Just because I'm not objecting doesn't mean I trust you," snapped Squall. "Your allegiance history isn't exactly favourable. In fact, you're betraying the Sorceress and the Knights to help us."

"Are you complaining?" said Seifer coolly.

Ellone stepped in between them both before Squall could reply. "No, we're grateful, Seifer. I trust you with all my heart."

"Thanks, Elle," said Seifer. He didn't know what it was, and he would never admit it, but he somehow wanted to see Squall's side win. In terms of likeliness of winning, it seemed almost impossible, and he must have been crazy to place a bet on Squall's team, but perhaps they did have a chance if Seifer was on their side...

Laguna returned from the back room. In the quarrel between Squall and Seifer, nobody seemed to notice that Laguna, Odine and Lucrecia had left. "So you've decided to stick with us?" said Laguna with a cheerful smile. "Great, I thought you might. This'll be a big help. If you don't mind, could you stay within the Order of the Sorceress Knights as a double agent?"

Seifer was still amazed at how Laguna was so quick to trust him compared to Squall. It made him feel accepted, but at the same time, he couldn't help but think how crazy Laguna was. Perhaps it was Laguna's charisma which Ultimecia lacked that drew him to the group – a true feeling of camaraderie and honour was clearly here with the ex-SeeDs.

"Glad you suggested it, because I had no intention of leaving," said Seifer, folding his arms. After all, he still had to get even with Sephiroth. "But it'd be pretty dangerous if I was found out. Ultimecia has the power to tell when humans are lying."

"We can worry about that later," said Laguna. "But right now, we've got to execute our next mission."

"Going into Lucrecia's world to stop the Lifestream from draining?" said Quistis.

"Yes, exactly," said Laguna. "As well as finding Aerith's friends who defeated Ultimecia before. There isn't any time to waste."

"So how exactly is this going to work?" asked Irvine.

"Well, we can't send too many of you," said Laguna. "It'll be too suspicious, not to mention dangerous if a large number go at a time."

"I'll go then," said Squall.

"That was a given, Squall," said Laguna with a chuckle.

Squall rolled his eyes, but didn't respond.

"Do you think Zack and I could come?" asked Aerith quietly.

"Are you insane, woman?" exclaimed Odine. "We can't guarantee what will happen to you if you returned there! It is far safer for you to remain here."

"I thought you'd say that," said Aerith heftily.

"I'll come along too," said Quistis.

"Oh! Can I come too, Squall?" asked Selphie excitedly.

"No Selphie, Seifer should go!" exclaimed Zell.

"And why's that?" growled Seifer. "Wouldn't I be of more use here?"

"If you're really on our side, you should prove it by going with Squall!" said Zell passionately. "After all, you could just run back to Ultimecia for all we know. At least Squall can keep an eye on you over there."

"A test of allegiance, huh?" said Seifer. "Thinking with your head for a change, chicken wuss. Squall, you got any objections?"

"I couldn't care less," said Squall with a shrug.

"Then it's settled," said Odine. "You three vill go back."

"We're ready," said Squall.

"We don't know exactly where you'll end up," said Lucrecia. "You may end up at Crystal Cave, which is where I had come from. It is located in a waterfall, and the only way you can get out is either by submarine or Chocobo..."

"What?" said Squall, staring at Lucrecia, dumbfounded. "How are we supposed to—"

"Don't worry," said Lucrecia. "I have a key that opens up a secret rock entrance in the back. It's how I sealed myself in the beginning..." The scientist reached for the back of her neck and unfastened the clasp of the chain she was wearing. "Here, Quistis. Use the pendant if you end up in the Crystal Cave."

Quistis took the necklace from Lucrecia and fastened it around her own neck carefully. "So ... where else might we end up?" she asked.

"It's likely you'll end up at a Mako hotspot, as the concentration of Mako appears to be what's linking the two worlds," said Lucrecia.

"Understood," said Quistis, nodding. "We should get going then."

* * *

Chaos was flying high up into the mountain, almost at the peak, with Rinoa firmly in his hold. Rinoa could at least see that she was not too far from ground, and tried to utter a spell but was faced with the problem that she could not voice it. In her flurry of panic, she was amazed that she was able to come up with another idea.

_Griever! _said Rinoa's inner voice. _Are you there? You said you were watching over me! Please, I summon you now to help me!_

_Very well, _replied Griever's booming voice.

Although the sky was already pitch-black, it suddenly felt like the sky became even darker. Shadowy clouds loomed in the sky, and a fork of white lightning flashed followed by a low grumble of thunder. It was almost as if the sky was torn in two when a great beast, maybe even greater than Chaos, emerged from the dark sky and zipped down to Rinoa's altitude.

The winged Guardian Force was a deep shade of purple, with huge wings and sharp claws. Griever lunged at Chaos in midair, clawing his massive talons into his adversary's arm. Chaos roared in pain and instinctively let go of Rinoa.

She fell fast, but luckily the ground was not too far away. She landed on her back painfully and she felt the back of her head begin to bleed, but jumped to her feet as quick as she could whilst casting cure on herself. She looked around – it seemed that she was nearly at the top of the mountain. Here, it wasn't as dark and frightening as it was at the bottom of the mountain, as it seemed that a tall structure stood there across a rickety wooden bridge. The structure gave off a faint, eerie green light. Rinoa assumed that this was the Mako Reactor that Yuffie and Cloud were talking about on the airship.

_Well, at least I beat Cloud and Tifa to it, _thought Rinoa.

A gunshot sounded through the air and Griever let out a great roar and Rinoa was startled at the booming noise. She looked to the sky to see that Chaos still held Vincent's gun but it seemed bigger somehow, and Chaos had shot at Griever. The GF seemed only slightly wounded, but was eager to counter attack. Griever darted higher into the sky, a bright purplish-pinkish beam appearing around his paws and readying itself for fire...

"No, don't kill him!" cried Rinoa, worried that the attack would be lethal.

Rinoa wasn't sure whether Griever heard her, as Chaos continued to fire shots at Griever with great precision and accuracy, but Griever's endurance was great enough for him to withstand the bullets whilst still procuring the GF's signature spell...

"Shockwave Pulsar."

Griever's voice bellowed across the plains, and it was then that it felt like the skies rumbled as round white beams shot from Griever's body and surrounded Chaos in the air. The beams pulsated and engulfed Chaos in a blinding explosion, and Rinoa was reminded somewhat of one of Quistis's Blue Magic spells.

Chaos screeched in agony and fell to the ground just feet away from where Rinoa was watching, smoking, and Griever disappeared from the sky and returned to her mind just as every other Guardian Force did after casting its powerful spell.

Rinoa wasn't sure whether she should have run away or see if Chaos was alive or not. It was easier for her to decide once she saw that the fallen Chaos began to slowly transform back into Vincent, unconscious and wounded. Rinoa breathed a sigh of relief and rushed over to Vincent, kneeling down and examining him carefully. The sores on his arm weren't oozing with black discharge anymore, and he was still breathing, albeit slowly.

"Life," murmured Rinoa, laying her hands over Vincent and watching a lucid feather-shaped light fall onto Vincent.

Vincent stirred and moaned but eventually stood up on his feet, staggering slightly.

Rinoa looked up at him, still in her kneeling position. "Are you all right, Vincent?"

Vincent's face was cloudy with an unexplainable emotion at first, but it immediately sharpened once his gaze fell on Rinoa. Rinoa was slightly alarmed because it was truly a frightening gaze, but before she could react, Vincent had reached for his gun and held it to Rinoa's head.

"V-Vincent...!" gasped Rinoa, terrified when she could feel the hot metal of the end of Vincent's gun against her temple. She had sighed of relief too early before – it seemed Vincent, even in human form, still wanted to kill her...

"Don't speak," said Vincent sharply. "Chaos is the brother of Omega Weapon. Chaos is summoned when The Planet faces catastrophe and along with his brother, Chaos and Omega will destroy the world so that life can begin anew on another planet. However Omega was not summoned at this time because it is not yet time to destroy The Planet. Chaos has acted on his own – Chaos wanted to avoid the catastrophe, and he did it by trying to destroy you."

Rinoa gulped but try not to show that she was terrified. "So you're saying ... I'm going to bring catastrophe to this planet?"

Vincent grunted in what sounded like confirmation.

"But that's ... impossible," whispered Rinoa, for she had no intention or desire to do such a thing...

"You are not from this world," said Vincent. "You do not belong here. Your being is full of evil and malice that Chaos cannot stand. You are not a human, but a remnant of Jenova – just like Sephiroth or Kadaj. A puppet of Jenova. Chaos wanted to kill you because it sensed that you were the source of the Jenova cells. _Your _cells invaded my body and attempted to eat away at Chaos within me."

_Why does everyone talk about Jenova? Cloud said I had Jenova cells too ... are they bad? But Cloud has them as well ... what's wrong with me? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? Vincent must be crazy ... but he's Cloud's ally..._

An overpowering part of her conscience told her that now was not the time to be diplomatic. A man was holding a gun to her head, and she was worried about friendship? He was telling her she was evil and would bring about the destruction of the planet, because she was a remnant of Jenova? That was so ridiculous-sounding that she was _certain _Vincent was mistaken. She had to be headstrong and defend herself ... she was _not _evil...

"Firag—!"

"Silence," said Vincent authoritatively, holding out his other hand and strange hues of colours escaped his fingertips and onto Rinoa.

Rinoa lost her voice immediately, unable to finish the incantation. She prayed with all her might that Cloud and Tifa would come rushing up in an instant to talk some sense into Vincent ... they had been around her for longer, they could convince him she wasn't a puppet of this Jenova at all...

"Yuffie said you were a girl who can cast magic without Materia," retorted Vincent. "Truly an abomination. How Cloud could trust you, I do not know. A remnant of Jenova can only plague and do evil in this world. Chaos is not mistaken. Goodbye."

Rinoa opened her mouth to protest, with a million things she wanted to scream at Vincent, to reason with him, but no sound came out, much to her frustration. Vincent wasn't anything like Cloud – he wasn't going to listen, even if she could speak. The placidness she initially saw in him seemed to have evaporated and only distrust and hatred were staring back at her now ... was this the true Vincent, or was the peaceable Vincent his true nature...?

Her fear intensified when she heard him pulling back the magazine, his finger lingering on the trigger...

Rinoa squeezed her eyes closed tightly, so tightly that if she opened them, tears would come out. So this was how it was going to end ... she would die in a strange world and never see her friends again, never see Squall again ... and she didn't even have the voice to scream ... she would die in silence...

And then, the sound of a gunshot echoed through all the mountains.

* * *

"Beds!" cried Selphie in delight as she, Irvine and Zell approached the Esthar City Hotel. "It feels like _weeks _since I've slept in a nice comfy bed..."

"Will we be sharing a double, Sefie?" said Irvine, grinning at her.

Zell smacked the back of Irvine's head, knocking his cowboy hat onto the ground. "Don't be such a sleaze!"

Selphie ignored both comments and sighed. "I wish Squall chose me to join him on the mission! Squall hardly chooses me to go on missions with him anymore, now that I think about it..."

"Do you really want to go?" said Irvine, picking up his hat from the ground. "I'd say it's much safer here. And we get to sleep and eat and relax!"

"No we don't," argued Zell. "We're Lucrecia's escort!"

"If we're supposed to be Lucrecia's escort, then where the heck is she?" asked Irvine.

Zell looked around and swore out loud when he realised that Lucrecia wasn't with them anymore. Laguna had instructed them to escort Lucrecia to the hotel after she and Odine briefed Squall and his team about the mission they were to undertake, but the teenagers were so excited about getting to relax that they hadn't noticed that Lucrecia had slipped away.

Meanwhile, Lucrecia didn't realise that she had lost her escorts as she was extremely taken in by the way the city of Esthar functioned. She had been inside Odine's laboratory ever since she had arrived and hadn't had the chance to see the outside world yet. The machinery, the buildings, even the people fascinated her and she was curious to know how such an advanced city was powered without Mako energy.

Lucrecia was no longer wearing her white lab coat and walked around in laymen's clothes to blend in, but her behaviour must have seemed strange to some of the locals. Luckily for her, it was quite late at night and hardly anybody was walking the streets at that time. She was standing in front of a mechanical lift that appeared to transport people to other parts of the city once they sat on it, and was examining the device with a keen interest.

"It certainly isn't Mako," murmured Lucrecia. "Electricity perhaps? No, it can't be..."

"What's a pretty lady like you doin' out here on your own, eh?" grunted a slurry male voice from behind her.

Lucrecia turned around in alarm to find a stammering middle-aged man with bloodshot eyes, reeking of alcohol, groggily approaching her.

"Are you lonely, darlin'?" he said, swaying to and fro.

Lucrecia didn't reply and regretted not closely following the SeeDs to the hotel. She looked around to see if she could perhaps run back to the laboratory, but the streets were dark and every path looked the same. But she didn't care – she didn't want to wait around here to see what would happen. She turned on her heel and began to run away, but the clicking of her high heels against the pavement reminded her that such shoes were not suitable for running.

"Ngaw, don't run! I'll keep you company!" shouted the drunk man, pouncing on her and wrapping his huge arms around her.

Lucrecia screamed, wishing that she had still kept the Materia that was given to Ellone, but it had to be used for the Junction Machine. She tried to wriggle free from the man's hold, but he was far too strong, and the stink of spirits filled her nostrils and she wanted to throw up.

"Let me go!" shrieked Lucrecia, trying to bring her arms up to push her attacker off her and hoping that someone could hear her.

"No need to – hic – be like that," murmured the man, his lips brushing against her ear.

Lucrecia felt sick to her stomach and brought her foot up to kick the point of her heel into the man's shin, slightly glad that the high heels had some use to them after all. The drunkard yelped in pain and let her go momentarily, and Lucrecia seized the moment to escape.

But the man quickly recovered and he seemed to be aggravated with Lucrecia's stunt. "That wasn't very – hic – nice. No man'd want a woman like – hic – that ... but I still like – hic – you..."

He was able to catch up to Lucrecia in a matter of steps and pushed her to the ground. She fell on her back with a wince of pain and her attacker was down on the ground too, leering over her face, his breath hot and slow and disgusting on her bare neck ... she had lent Quistis her necklace for the mission, but now she also wished that she still had it for the comfort it brought to her...

"Get off her."

Lucrecia's heart raced when she heard a new voice – she was saved. She tried to turn her head to look at who the newcomer was, but all she could see was the outline of a tall stranger, obscured by shadows.

"We can – hic – share if you like..." said the drunkard, looking up at the dark stranger.

Lucrecia was worried that the stranger would agree, but in a second, the stranger had unsheathed a thin but massive blade, holding it to Lucrecia's attacker's throat menacingly and silently.

"Okay, I'm – hic – sorry, no need to do that," said the drunkard, hastily getting to his feet and running (more like dragging himself) away, disappearing into the night.

Lucrecia breathed a sigh of relief. The stranger sheathed his weapon but did not extend a hand to help her up, so Lucrecia stood up on her feet by herself. She was trembling, the terror from the ordeal not yet leaving her body.

"Th-thank you, sir," whispered Lucrecia, wiping the sweat from her brow and the small tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. "I don't know how I can repay you..."

"I don't want payment," said the stranger.

Lucrecia changed the angle she was standing at to get a better view of the man who saved her. In the moonlight, she could see a man dressed in black, whose age was enigmatic. Was he older than her? Was he younger than her? She couldn't tell at all. A magnificent katana hung sheathed on his hip, his long, silver hair was like a flowing curtain of light in the moonshine, and his dazzling Mako eyes – no, they had to be green eyes in this world, she thought – were like fireflies in the night. His face, his form, and his aura had such a familiar feel to them, as if he were someone she had met once in her life before, or perhaps he was someone she had bumped into on the street and his image subconsciously remained in her memory.

Whatever it was, she _knew _she must have somehow seen him somewhere before...

* * *

Rinoa's heart stopped and she could have sworn that she was dead, but she was able to open her eyes to find that her body was still in the same kneeling position it had been in before. The hot metal against her temple had been lifted and she saw that Vincent's arm was wounded from a gunshot. It was then that she realised that the sound of the gunshot she heard a second ago hadn't come from Vincent's gun, but from someone else who had fired a shot Vincent. But who...?

"Let. Her. Go."

Rinoa's heart raced at the sound of the voice, and her head darted into the direction where it had come from. And it was then that she thought she was dreaming, what else could it have been?

For it was _Squall Leonhart_ who stood in front of the Mako Reactor, with his gunblade held out and smoking with gunpowder. His expression was like a violent storm, living up to the name 'Squall', furious and dangerous and full of both the heat of fire and the coldness of ice. He looked more like a man than a teenager now, and Rinoa felt like it had been many years since she last saw him.

'Squall!' she wanted to shout out, but no sound came out when she opened her mouth because of the Silence spell Vincent cast on her.

It was then that two other shadowy figures emerged from inside the Mako Reactor, and as they walked into the pale green light of the top of the reactor, Rinoa recognised them straight away and her heart soared again, for this couldn't have been a dream.

'Quistis!' Rinoa wanted to cry with joy, seeing the blonde's piercing glare and wielding her whip. The other person was Seifer, and she forgot that he was Squall's rival so she also wanted to cry his name with happiness.

"But how ... and who are they...?" murmured Vincent, not taking any notice of his arm bleeding furiously. He seemed more wary now that he had encountered more enemies.

Squall's expression remained the same as he took a few steps towards them, holding his gunblade up threateningly. Vincent watched his opponent like a hawk, and Rinoa saw this as an invitation to stand up and run towards her friends. But it seemed that Vincent's resolve remained strong and he seized Rinoa by the arm with his wounded arm, his mechanical hand readying his gun.

"Who are you people?" demanded Vincent. "Slaves of Jenova?"

"I think some ass-kicking is in order, Squall," said Seifer with a smirk.

"I agree," said Squall.

"Let's go," said Quistis.

Squall, Seifer and Quistis charged at Vincent with their weapons in hands. Vincent lifted his gun to defend himself against the fighters whilst keeping a firm grip on Rinoa, and opened fire at Squall who was clearly the leader. Squall instinctively lifted his gunblade over his body, and the metal effectively acted as a shield, deflecting the bullets and barely leaving a scratch.

Rinoa tried to scream out, 'No! Don't fight!' but the best she could do was mouth the words, and nobody seemed to take notice of her anyway. There must have been some misunderstanding here ... Vincent can't have been their enemy, and Squall can't have been his.

Quistis flailed her whip ruthlessly at Vincent, wrapping it around his gun and pulling it off his hands. The firearm landed far away from Vincent, rendering him completely defenceless.

But he still had a hostage in his hold.

Vincent pulled out a small knife from his inside pocket and held it to Rinoa's neck threateningly, almost as if he was inviting Squall and his party to attack Vincent.

"Stop!"

Cloud and Tifa had caught up and were climbing up the mountain towards them. They both appeared to be puzzled, but held their weapons up cautiously. Squall, Seifer and Quistis, as if obeying Cloud's command to stop, paused in their positions and eyed the newcomers suspiciously. It was almost like a bizarre stalemate – Squall and his party couldn't attack Vincent otherwise he would hurt Rinoa, but Vincent now couldn't hurt Rinoa because he knew Cloud and Tifa would oppose such an action, although of course Squall did not know this. The atmosphere was tense, and it seemed that everyone present did not know who was friend and who was foe. Only Rinoa believed that everybody there was her friend, even Vincent, and gave Cloud and Tifa an urgent look.

"What's going on here?" asked Cloud.

Rinoa spoke, wanting to say a million things, but wanted to scream in frustration when she couldn't hear her own voice. She instead mouthed 'I'm silenced'.

"She's Silent," Cloud said to Tifa.

"Esuna," said Tifa promptly, casting the remedy on Rinoa.

"No, don't," said Vincent warningly. "She's been hiding the truth from you the whole time. And now these people have come to her—"

"NO!" shouted Rinoa, looking from Cloud and Tifa to Vincent to Squall. "No." She sighed, just wanting to collapse from exhaustion, but the blade at Rinoa's throat was unmoving. "Everyone, please stop fighting. Lower your weapons. Please!"

"What?" said Cloud, confused.

"Squall, put away your blade," said Rinoa softly. "Please. If you believe what you see, and if what you see is the real Rinoa, then please ... please stop..."

Squall hesitated, but when he saw the urgency in Rinoa's eyes, he gave in. He sheathed his gunblade and placed it on the ground in front of him. Seifer and Quistis eventually did the same, and when Cloud and Tifa saw this universal sign of peace, they did the same. It was only Vincent that remained, with his knife close to Rinoa's throat.

"Tell your comrade to lower his weapon," demanded Squall coldly, addressing Cloud.

"Vincent, do it," said Cloud. "I know you would only do something like this with good reason. But we can't jump to conclusions. They clearly mean no harm to us right now and discussion is a much better choice for resolving this conflict. If you're still in doubt after that, we can fight then."

"You're making a mistake," murmured Vincent. "Too trusting..." But he couldn't fight Cloud's request – Cloud and Vincent never quarrelled in the past and they weren't going to begin now. He withdrew his blade and pushed Rinoa away from him as if she were plagued with a disease.

Rinoa's heart rejoiced at that moment and she ran towards Squall with all her strength, throwing her arms around him, holding onto him tightly and burying her face into his warm chest.

"I'm so glad I found you," whispered Rinoa, tears of joy forming in her eyes. "I'm so glad_ you _found _me. _I – I thought I'd never see you again..."

"Shh, don't cry," said Squall gently, pulling some strands of hair behind Rinoa's ear so he could see her face. His aggressiveness seemed to have evaporated when he wrapped his arms around Rinoa's petite form and it felt like an empty void inside of him was being filled as he could feel her heart beat against his, feel her warmth, hear her voice, smell her hair, see those innocent brown eyes ... he travelled across universes to find her, and now that he found her, he was never going to let her leave his sight again.

"Oh please," muttered Seifer, rolling his eyes to which he received a painful elbowing in the ribs from Quistis.

Rinoa didn't want the embrace to end, but she was wary of everybody staring at them and she was sure that they were all confused. She let go of Squall and turned around to face Cloud, Tifa and Vincent. Vincent had retrieved his gun and was standing with Cloud and Tifa now, seemingly less edgy and his hostility seemed to have faded as well.

"Everyone, this is Squall, Quistis and Seifer," said Rinoa. "They're the friends I've been searching for. I hate to say 'I told you so', but they really do exist! That means everything that I've been telling you up until now has been absolutely true and I am _not _crazy. Squall, that gentleman is Vincent. She's Tifa, and that handsome guy over there is Cloud."

Quistis waved at Rinoa's new friends awkwardly, but Seifer merely smirked. Squall took a step forward and stood next to Rinoa, and everyone could see how well they complimented each other – Squall, tall and strong but cold, and Rinoa, small and thin but warm.

"I'm Squall," he said diplomatically. "If you're Rinoa's friends, then you're my friends too. I want to thank you for looking after her." He shot a quick, cold glare at Vincent who seemed unflinching, but looked back to the group as a whole. "I don't know what Rinoa has told you ... but we can confirm that the four of us aren't from your world."

Cloud and Tifa looked at one another, puzzled but Vincent merely glowered at Squall with disdain. Rinoa also looked at Squall, slightly confused, because all this time she thought that she was still in her home world, albeit a twisted one.

"You, you're Cloud?" said Squall, nodding at Cloud indifferently.

"Yeah," replied Cloud.

"Then I'm glad we could find you so easily," said Squall. "I don't know if any of you trust us, but if it makes any difference, then you may be interested to know that a woman named Aerith and a man named Zack told me to find you."

"W-What?" said Cloud incredulously, his indifferent demeanour shattering. "You don't have the right to say those names…! Wh-who the hell...?"

"Cloud," said Tifa gently, holding Cloud back.

Squall seemed unmoved. "I have news that our planets are linked, and both of them are in danger from the same thing. We call her Ultimecia, but I'm told you have another name for her – _Jenova._"

Rinoa was startled at the sound of that name again. Things somehow began to make sense to her ... but not quite yet. She needed Squall to fill in the gaps, but this was no place to do it.

"I think we'll be in for a long conversation ahead," said Rinoa. "Perhaps we should do this in a more comfortable place."

Cloud looked at Tifa and Vincent, whom both nodded.

"You're right," said Cloud. "This must have something to do with the Geostigma and the Mako and Jenova's head. We'll discuss this on the airship, where the others can hear as well." He reached into his pocket and rummaged around for his cell phone.

"I've got your phone, Cloud," said Rinoa, diving into her pockets.

"Oh, yeah, you do," said Cloud. "No, keep it for now – you might need it. I'll use Tifa's phone..."

As Cloud and his two companions huddled together and discussed the situation, Rinoa clung onto Squall's hand and skipped happily towards Quistis and Seifer, dragging Squall behind her.

"Quisty, I'm so glad to see you again," said Rinoa, hugging her friend tightly. "And Seifer ... I'm not quite sure what to say, but if you're here, you must be friends with Squall again, right?"

"Was I ever 'friends' with him to begin with?" said Seifer, glancing at Squall, who seemed to pull a sour face. "But, we're on the same page at least."

Rinoa smiled, and she forgot all about how he was their enemy for a while and it felt like the two of them were fifteen again. "Then ... I'm glad."

She knew it was too early to be glad, but she felt that she had the right to let her guard down for at least a while and savour these few moments of peace and happiness that clung in those bare minutes. Just for a little while, she didn't have to worry about the future or the past or what anybody else thought of her – all that mattered was the present, that very moment where her heart was at ease and full of joy, that frame of her life where she relief was an understatement. She wasn't alone and the ones she loved were alive.

_I'm so glad._


	10. Destined

**Chapter Ten**

**Destined**

Sephiroth never cared much for the lives of civilians, but seeing an innocent in danger brought back a distant sense of déjà vu from his days in SOLDIER. The almost-foreign feeling of satisfaction he felt in his early days spent doing petty missions to work his way up the ranks with Angeal and Genesis loomed momentarily, and the distant memory had touched him in some way, although Sephiroth himself didn't know that this was the cause of the feeling. The names Angeal and Genesis were long forgotten in his mind – the only name that mattered anymore was Jenova.

The woman in the pale blue clothes and the long brown hair that Sephiroth had just saved from a despicable drunkard had been staring at him in a strange manner for what seemed like a long time. Sephiroth was no stranger to having women, or anyone for that matter, stare at him – however something about this woman made Sephiroth want to shift uncomfortably. He kept up his cool exterior but it was almost like the woman was staring into the parts of his soul that even he did not know existed.

Sephiroth tried to figure out what it was about her that made him uneasy. He wasn't even sure if it was uneasiness, but it was curiosity at least. There was not a woman in his lifetime he had met that made him feel such a way – a mixed feeling of curiosity and confusion and dread all at once. Not even Ultimecia, the mother he worshipped, made him feel like this.

He looked back at her through his Mako eyes and examined her face – and he couldn't help but notice her lips, forming an expression that was half-smiling, half-frowning and all the more unreadable. He couldn't stop looking at those lips, not in a lustful way (for Sephiroth had no capacity to feel such pathetic emotions), but in a nagging way that nipped at him, reminding him that those lips seemed familiar somehow.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but little did he know that those were the lips that he was born with.

"I must be going now," said Sephiroth, breaking the silence. "Farewell."

As Sephiroth turned to leave, the woman abruptly said, "Wait."

Her hands came out to reach for his arm, and even though his sleeves were long and covered his arm completely, a kind of warmth emanated from her delicate hands and forged a strange feeling inside of him. Sephiroth had never known the warm touch of a mother on a child, so this feeling alarmed him somewhat at first.

"What is it?" murmured Sephiroth, turning back to her.

"Could you possibly ... accompany me to the hotel?" she said. "I'm not familiar with this city and..."

She trailed off, but Sephiroth knew that she was going to say that she didn't feel comfortable walking alone due to what had just happened. Normally he would have brushed such a request off, as he wasn't a bodyguard and he certainly wasn't compassionate, but that strange feeling of curiosity overtook his logical side and he ended up agreeing.

"Follow me then," said Sephiroth. He himself was not very familiar with this foreign place, but after a day of his time in Esthar City, he was able to memorise the basic formation and layout of the city and knew the general direction of the hotel. As they walked towards the business district of the town full of bars and shops and clubs, the streets slowly began to fill with light and life.

Sephiroth led the way in silence. The silence was not exactly awkward, but soothing. It was as if the mystery woman wasn't there physically, but her presence was still noticeable. Sephiroth couldn't shake the feeling off – he wanted to look at her ut decided not to) so he could figure out who or what she was, as her presence didn't seem to be like one of this world...

"I know this might seem strange to you," said the soft voice behind him, "but ... have we met before?"

"No," said Sephiroth. "It's not possible that we have ever met before."

"I thought so too," she murmured quietly, "but something..."

"We're here," interrupted Sephiroth, pointing at the front door of the hotel.

"Oh, thank you," said the woman. "Thank you very much for everything."

"Lucrecia, there you are!" said a second female voice.

Sephiroth looked up, as it sounded as if this third party was addressing him. A young woman in a long pink dress and a matching pink ribbon in her brunette hair came walking out from the revolving glass doors of the hotel to greet them.

* * *

The atmosphere in the alien airship was warm in temperature but cold in company. Squall, Quistis, and Rinoa sat in the board room at a large square table across Cloud and Tifa, and two others whom were introduced to him as Cid and Yuffie. Meanwhile, Seifer seemingly couldn't stand the formality and was pacing around the room instead. Vincent stood, isolated from the rest with his back to the wall, listening intently. There was a large screen on the wall where video was streaming from a live feed for a video conference with three other strangers – two men called Reeve and Barret, and a male dog-like creature named Nanaki. The introductions were short and sweet but the reactions from these people to Squall's story were mixed. Vincent was still very untrusting, along with Nanaki, whilst Yuffie was sceptical, Cid and Barret were confused, and Cloud, Tifa and Reeve were patient.

Squall, with the help of Quistis and Seifer, tried to explain in detail about what he was told by Odine and Lucrecia – that the Jenova of their world was one in the same as Ultimecia from Squall's world, and that she was seeking to control the Lifestream through time compression to make the perfect world on Squall's planet. The names Zack, Aerith and Lucrecia particularly piqued curiosity from the group, but Squall resisted talking about them until he was done with everything else.

"...And so we were told to come to your planet so that we could stop the leakage of the Lifestream," continued Squall. "We were transported via the time machine – although it's not really a time machine anymore."

"We weren't sure where we were going to end up, but we were told we would likely come through to a 'Mako hotspot' because the flow of the Lifestream seems to be the link between our world and yours," explained Quistis.

"And that's why you came through the Mako Reactor," said Reeve, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting."

"Yes," responded Squall. "It's merely a very lucky coincidence that you also happened to be there."

"So what is the connection between this girl and Jenova?" asked Vincent contemptuously, nodding in the direction of Rinoa.

Squall could see Rinoa sinking into the back of her seat and addressed Vincent politely. "The only thing I can think of is that Ultimecia is a sorceress. Rinoa is also a sorceress. And if you recall, these 'Jenova cells' are in fact 'Ultimecia cells', but Rinoa isn't Ultimecia so the more correct term for them is 'Sorceress cells'."

"She is the same being as Jenova?" said Nanaki incredulously. "If that is true, then she must be dangerous! The fact that she can cast magic without Materia alone is dangerous!"

Squall looked at the screen, trying not to show how amazed and intrigued he was by the talking creature. "That's not a fair thing to say. Just because Rinoa is the same kind of being as something bad doesn't mean she's bad too. I'm sure there are many humans in your world – some do good things, some do bad. It doesn't mean they're all the same."

Rinoa smiled, but didn't say anything.

There was a bitter silence in the room for a short moment.

"I believe you," said Reeve finally. "It cannot be a mere coincidence that the levels of Mako are depleting and Jenova's remains have gone missing, whilst you mysterious strangers from another planet show up. It must all be connected. And I believe we should help you fight, for Jenova is our problem as much as yours."

"Are you kiddin' me?" exclaimed Yuffie. "This is _crazy! _You people are _all crazy. _We can't help a bunch of aliens! That's just way too weird for me!_"_

"No," said Cloud. "There's only one way we can believe them and believe that we're on the same side."

"And what is that?" asked Squall.

"You mentioned the names Aerith and Zack," said Cloud.

"And Lucrecia," said Vincent sharply.

"It's impossible that you met them," said Cloud. "Absolutely impossible. They're dead. Prove it to us that you know them."

Seifer groaned. "Untrusting bastards. Even after all this, seeing a girl who can cast magic without that whatever-it-is and _four _of us _humans _who don't know anything about this world, you don't think that the impossible might be possible? Don't you have any faith?"

"We walk by sight, not by faith," snapped Cloud.

"Like I told you," said Squall, sighing, "your Lifestream is leaking into our world. But it's not leaking in as a flow of energy, it's leaking physically. I don't know if Ultimecia knows this or not, and I don't know if it's her intention, but it's evidently happening."

"When people die in your world, they return to the Lifestream, right?" offered Quistis. "The dead have appeared in our world. Isn't it obvious that we _can _meet them?"

"I don't know what it'll take for you to believe me, but Aerith saved my life and I'm grateful to her for that," murmured Squall. "It would be an insult to her if _you_, her own friends, denied her existence."

"There's nothing in repeating a bunch of names," murmured Cloud. "A name on its own is just a memory."

Quistis stood up in her chair abruptly. "You people are horrible. Aerith and Zack are wonderful people, and they had hoped that they would see you again. It didn't matter if they knew for sure or not, but they still believed. If it's proof that will make you believe, then here."

Quistis unfastened the necklace around her neck, and Squall remembered that it was given to her by Lucrecia before the mission and held it out by the chain, the pendant dangling.

"Professor Lucrecia Crescent gave this to me," said Quistis. "If you recognise it, you'll believe."

Vincent moved from his spot and approached Quistis with caution as if she were a tiger waiting to attack him. He took the necklace in his hands, and the cold expression he bore nearly instantly turned into one of neutral-surprise, probably the most emotion that Squall has ever seen his face bear since they met.

"This..." said Vincent, sounding like he was out of breath. "Impossible... it can't..."

"What is it, Vince?" asked Yuffie, leaping to her feet. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"I gave this necklace to Lucrecia many, many years ago when I was still a Turk," said Vincent, swallowing hard. "There is none other like this. They are not lying."

"I dunno much 'bout this," said Barret, "but if Vincent's convinced, I'm convinced."

"Agreed," said Tifa. "They can't be lying about Zack and Aerith either."

Quistis's stern gaze softened a little, and she looked somewhat triumphant. "Then take it, Vincent. If you come with us, then you can meet Lucrecia again and return it to her."

Vincent's mysterious eyes stared at Quistis. He clenched his fist with the necklace still inside it, and everyone could tell a million thoughts and feelings were running through his mind at once at that very moment. "Thank you. You all have my trust."

"Vincent is the wisest human I know," said Nanaki. "And so I trust you too."

Tifa stood up and smiled. "I always trusted you, Rinoa. Any friends of yours are friends of mine."

"Guess it's time to save The Planet for the fourth time," said Cid, sighing.

"This is crazy!" cried Yuffie. "It's so crazy that I like it!"

"Maybe you guys have an energy source we could steal," said Barret with a hearty laugh.

"Very well, I suppose it's settled," said Reeve. "A small party of you should investigate the Mako Reactor again tomorrow to see if you can get into this other world. Squall, is there definitely a way to get back to our Planet?"

"Yes," said Squall. "Odine's machine allows us to freely travel between the worlds, but the journey is tiresome and shouldn't be made too often. And we don't know what kind of effects it has on the time-space continuum yet, so it's best that we limit the number of trips. Therefore I'm advising you now that whoever comes with us must be physically and mentally capable of living in another world for an indefinite amount of time."

"Then it would be best if only a few of you go to this other world," said Reeve.

"Sorry, Reeve, before we get to that," said Squall, "we were asked to investigate how we could actually stop the leakage of Lifestream before any more damage can be done."

Reeve looked thoughtful for a moment. "Any thoughts, anyone?" he offered.

"You could do some research at Cosmo Canyon," said Nanaki. "However, it would probably be a better idea to let us handle the research as we would be able to understand it more."

"Yeah, maybe we should do all the investigations here on how to reverse the Lifestream leak," said Barrett. "No one knows our Planet better than us!"

"If that's the case, then we'll escort Cloud and his team back to our world to talk with Odine and Lucrecia while the rest of you guys find a solution," said Squall. "Then, say in a week or two, we'll all meet again back here to discuss our next course of action."

"That's a good plan," said Reeve. "But for now, I'm sure everyone is tired. Please rest and we will worry about the plan tomorrow. Cloud, I will leave your part of the mission in your capable hands."

Cloud looked like he was about to protest, but the screen flickered to black and Reeve, Nanaki and Barret were gone. Squall knew the feeling – Cloud was being placed as leader with no say, just as Squall was countless times.

"Ahhh, what a long day," said Yuffie, stretching. "Time to catch up on some Z's."

"You didn't even do anything," said Tifa, raising an eyebrow.

"I've done plenty, Teef!" said Yuffie, walking out of the board room. "G'NIGHT ALL!"

Then one by one, everyone began to leave the boardroom. Cid went to fix the airship so that they'd be able to fly straight to the top of the mountain tomorrow, Tifa and Vincent retired to the cabins with Quistis and Seifer following, until it was only Cloud, Rinoa and Squall left. Cloud had been absentmindedly looking out the window, before he murmured a good night and left the room.

"Wait, Cloud," said Rinoa, running after Cloud into the hallway.

"What is it?" asked Cloud, turning around.

"I just want to thank you," said Rinoa. "Thank you for everything."

"It's all right," murmured Cloud. "You know, I was wondering why I was so drawn to you when I first met you ... it's because you're like Jenova and all of us who have Jenova cells naturally follow her. But I think it's more than that. It was as if some unexplainable force led me to the church that particular day – it led me there so that I can find you, and so that I can help you find your friends, and in turn you'll help me find those friends that I've lost so long ago."

"We're all children of fate," whispered Rinoa. "Perhaps it was fate that we met. Perhaps it wasn't coincidence, but fate that you took me to the mountain today. And perhaps it was fate that Squall was going to be there as well, and that he'd be the one to take you to your friends."

Cloud remained silent for a moment.

"But it can't have been _fate_ that made you do what you did," said Rinoa softly. "It was your kindness. Thank you for letting me come with you when you found me in the church. Thank you for looking after me. And thank you for leading me to my friends – if you hadn't let me go with you up the mountain, I'd never have found them. You don't know how happy I am..."

Rinoa's lips formed a sweet smile, her eyes lighting up the dim hallway. Cloud couldn't help but smile a small smile back at the girl.

Squall had heard all of this from inside the boardroom and a strange feeling overcome his senses. He had never heard Rinoa speak like that to anyone before – her voice softened in such an odd way that it hardly sounded like Rinoa anymore. Squall came outside to where the two of them were and cleared his throat. "I think we should get some rest, Rinoa."

Rinoa turned around to look at Squall, a look of confusion in her face, but she smiled the same sweet smile at him and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I'm really tired."

Cloud nodded. "Good night to both of you, then."

The blonde swordsman looked from Rinoa to Squall, and it was like an electric flash of recognition of each other's existence had been established between the two mercenaries. Squall did not bid him good night but merely nodded, and with that, Cloud disappeared down the hallway.

Rinoa grabbed both of Squall's hands in hers and smiled at him, as if she were a schoolgirl with many secrets bottled inside that she wanted to pour out to him.

"I missed you so much, Squall," said Rinoa. "I thought I would die in this world without you. A world without Squall – I wonder how anyone could survive, huh?" She giggled at her own comment.

Squall wondered how he could say that he felt exactly the same, but he didn't have the time to think of a coherent way of expressing it. "We'll be able to go home tomorrow. We'll go there ... together."

Rinoa nodded. "Together."

* * *

Aerith's heart almost jumped out of her throat when the cold eyes of the great Sephiroth had fallen on her. So many thoughts ran through her mind when she saw him standing there – did he recognise her? Did he retain his memories from their world just as she and Zack did? Would he finish off the job by killing her then and there? And why was he was with Lucrecia? Did she recognise Sephiroth as her son?

"Oh, Aerith," said Lucrecia, "I'm sorry. I was separated from the others and got lost. I see you and Zack made it here..."

Aerith broke her gaze from Sephiroth and swallowed hard. "Y-Yes, Zack and I were about to go look for you..." She wondered whether it was a good idea to say the name 'Zack' in front of Sephiroth. After all, Zack had once respected the SOLDIER but loathed Sephiroth after his betrayal.

"It's fine," said Lucrecia. "This gentleman helped me."

Aerith couldn't read Sephiroth's expression at all. She didn't know him well enough to even guess what was going on in his mind. But it was clear that Lucrecia didn't recognise Sephiroth as her son, and Aerith intended to keep it that way. What could be more heartbreaking than for a kind, innocent mother to meet the son who was driven to madness and tried to destroy the planet? And what would stop Sephiroth from killing his own mother, when he was prepared to kill everyone?

"I'm grateful," said Aerith softly. "Come inside now. It's late and you need some rest."

"Of course," said Lucrecia. She turned to Sephiroth. "Thank you for your help ... erm..."

Aerith watched in horror as Sephiroth looked at his own mother, the same unreadable expression on his face. Aerith hoped that he would not divulge his name to Lucrecia. "Take care," was all he said as he turned around, much to Aerith's relief.

Lucrecia nodded with a smile and walked into the hotel, leaving just Aerith and Sephiroth at the front door. Aerith wished she had gone inside with Lucrecia, but now it felt like her shoes were stuck to the ground.

"So you're alive," said Sephiroth.

Aerith gulped. So he did recognise her – what was he going to do now? All she had to do was scream and Zack would come running out to protect her, but it didn't seem like Sephiroth had any hostile intentions...

"A world of the dead," murmured Sephiroth. "A second chance ... use it wisely."

Aerith didn't know how to respond so she remained silent. Before she knew it, Sephiroth walked away and disappeared into the night. The young woman was confused – did he spare her because of remorse? Or perhaps he was a changed man? Or maybe he pitied her – because if she died here, she wouldn't be able to return to The Planet. Whatever it was, Aerith's heart remained heavy. If Cloud was on his way to this world and Sephiroth was here, then the fight ahead of them was not only going to be against Ultimecia.

* * *

After a few hours of rest, night was gone and dawn was fast approaching. The sky was full of dark clouds that forewarned of rain, but this did not stop Cid from flying to the top of Mount Nibel to drop off Squall, Rinoa, Quistis, Seifer, Cloud, Tifa, Vincent and Yuffie to investigate the Mako Reactor.

As the party ventured into the reactor, Rinoa felt an eerie presence linger in the air as they delved deeper and deeper. They eventually reached a dimly lit red room filled with mysterious pods, and at the end of the room was a door to what seemed like a giant pod. It was labelled 'JENOVA' over the top and Rinoa once again felt haunted by the mere sight of the name. She clung closely to Squall, and a childish fear of Ultimecia bursting through that door to kill them all throbbed deep in her chest.

"We came out of that," murmured Squall, pointing to the door with the blue light over it and labelled with JENOVA.

Cloud and Vincent exchanged looks of silent concerned understanding, whereas Tifa and Yuffie appeared to be quite nervous.

"Are you sure it's _safe_ to be in that thing?" cried Yuffie worriedly. "Wasn't Jenova's head in there once? I don't wanna come out all mutated!"

"We came out of it fine," said Quistis. "It shouldn't be a big surprise. Ultimecia – or Jenova – is the link between our worlds, after all."

"And this place is full of Mako, which enabled us to come here in the first place," said Squall.

"We'll have to take your word for it," said Cloud. He looked at Tifa. "Are you ready?"

Tifa nodded slowly. "Y-yes. Let's go ... to the new world."

"So who's going first, huh!" said Yuffie nervously.

"It's not very difficult," said Squall. "I'll go first."

As Squall moved towards the pod, Rinoa grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"_We'll _go first," she corrected with a small smile.

Squall looked puzzled at first, but then nodded his head in understanding. "Right ... together."

The two of them stood close to each other and approached the sinister-looking pod. Rinoa was filled with excitement – she could almost imagine the air she would breathe when she went home and she could see her smiling friends in her mind's eye...

Squall pulled the door open and the couple entered with caution, as if they were expecting something to go horribly wrong.

"So we just stand here?" asked Rinoa.

"I guess so," mumbled Squall. "The concentrated flow of Mako should transport us through the Lifestream and back to Odine's machine. I think."

"You acted like you knew what you were talking about," said Rinoa, furrowing her brow at him.

"It's not every day I get to travel across the universe," said Squall.

Rinoa smiled and didn't argue. The air in the pod did seem a lot thicker, but perhaps it was because the area was tight and the reactor was hot. They waited for nearly a minute, the time painfully passing by with tedium, but nothing was happening.

"Uh, Squall ... I don't think it's working," said Seifer.

"You made me hold my breath for nothing," pouted Yuffie.

"I don't understand," said Squall, looking around confusedly before stepping out of the chamber. "It should work."

"Are you sure there aren't some buttons you're supposed to press or something?" asked Rinoa.

"There aren't any buttons _to_ press," said Cloud.

"Maybe it's only a one way trip through this place," said Seifer, shrugging.

"Perhaps he's right," said Vincent in a low voice. "The Lifestream only flows in one direction."

"_What?" _exclaimed Yuffie. "So what are we going to do now?"

"I was looking forward to going home," said Rinoa with a frown. "Does that mean we're stuck here...?"

"No," said Quistis, looking thoughtful. "If Lifestream only flows in one direction then we just have to find the Mako hotspot that will take us back to our planet."

"Maybe Lucrecia's hotspot then," suggested Seifer.

"But where _is _that?" asked Rinoa.

"I know the place," said Vincent. "Lucrecia's waterfall in the Crystal Cave is actually a Mako hotspot. She must have slipped through when Jenova compressed time..."

"I really think you guys should stop calling her Jenova," said Seifer, rolling his eyes. "Her real name is Ultimecia."

"Yeah, well she can tell it to our faces!" said Yuffie, narrowing her eyes at Seifer. "She's always been Jenova to us and you can't make us change!"

"I thought we already established that you were wrong," said Seifer snidely. "She's from _our_ world so _our_ name is right."

"Yeah, thanks a lot for unleashing a _calamity_ onto our planet," snorted Yuffie. "I guess you guys are to blame for Meteorfall then!"

"Why you—"

"Enough!" Squall barked at Seifer, and at the exact same time, Cloud had said, "Yuffie!" to his companion.

Rinoa and Tifa looked at each other and giggled at what just happened.

"Her name doesn't matter," said Quistis. "We can just call her 'The Sorceress' from now on."

"But there are _many _sorceresses," argued Seifer.

"Yeah, but what she means is that Jenova is _THE _sorceress!" barked Yuffie.

"We shouldn't delay the task any longer," cut in Quistis, before Seifer could argue with Yuffie.

"I agree," said Vincent. "By airship, the trip to Crystal Cave will take less than half a day. We must hurry."

With Yuffie and Seifer still glaring at each other so dangerously that it seemed like power beams were protruding from their eyes, the disgruntled party proceeded to leave the Mako Reactor to head for their new destination.

* * *

"Damn that Odine!"

Ultimecia roared out in fury, pushing Lynette out of the way and casting a fire spell on the Moomba servant in the room to vent her frustration. She and Lynette had been holed up in the Sorceress Knight office for hours, trying to figure out how to remove the cursed bracelet that sealed away Lynette's powers. Ultimecia had recognised it from the time she was in control of Edea's body and Rinoa had tried to use it, but Ultimecia was smart enough at the time to abstain from touching it. Lynette was not so lucky.

Lynette flinched when the Moomba began whimpering in pain from the spell and licking its wounds, but she held her tongue. She had never met the Sorceress Queen before and always had an image of a calm, collected and powerful woman who could do anything – but what she was experiencing now was quite the contrary. Even the almighty Ultimecia, who seemed to have power over everything, could not remove the seal.

"I'll get that Odine for this," said Ultimecia behind gritted teeth. "How _dare _he defy me? How _dare _he..."

"Y-Your Highness?" said Lynette weakly.

"Stay here, child," said Ultimecia, her eyes burning with rage. "I'll put a stop to this right now."

And before Lynette could open her mouth to speak, Ultimecia had disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

* * *

Ellone stood at the kitchen bench, stirring Laguna's and her cups of freshly brewed coffee for the morning.

"Do you think Squall and the others are okay?" asked Ellone behind a yawn.

"If they survived Ultimecia, they can survive anything," said Laguna.

"You're right," said Ellone, walking over to Laguna and serving him his coffee. "I really do hope they're okay..."

As Ellone was about to sit down, a cloud of purple smoke filled the centre of the room and she dropped her cup in surprise. The sound of it shattering on the tiled floor didn't register in her mind as Ellone only had a split second to anticipate the greater threat coming and could feel her heart thudding violently in her chest, as a furious Ultimecia appeared before them.

"Where is Odine?" shouted Ultimecia in a booming voice that could have shaken the walls.

"Doctor Odine has gone out to do some field research," said Ellone, trying to maintain her calmness.

Ultimecia shot a dangerous look at Ellone, and she could feel Ultimecia's powers trying to penetrate her mind to find a trace of a lie in Ellone's words, although Ellone knew that this power did not work on her.

"You have all been deceiving me," snarled Ultimecia. "You _will _be punished."

"Now, now," said Laguna, hopping up on his feet. "I don't know what's given you that idea."

_Yes, stay calm, _thought Ellone. _She can't harm us. She needs us._

"Don't you dare lie to me!" roared Ultimecia, a fiery anger enveloping her face and form. She whipped her slender arm out to the side, and a magical force from her body blew the chairs against the walls, breaking them apart loudly. "Is the machine complete? Do you know the Sorceress Rinoa? Do you know where she is?"

Laguna remained silent, because if he answered, Ultimecia would certainly know if he was lying.

"Answer me, you fools!" Ultimecia flung her arm out again in a blind rage, and Odine's desk full of files and papers fell to the floor with a loud _crash_.

"We don't," said Ellone defensively.

It was like Ultimecia was deaf to any answer she didn't want to hear. She thrust her bare hand out in front of her and Laguna was lifted up into the air by an invisible force. He grunted in pain, his legs kicking through the air helplessly, but he couldn't escape or even yell – Ultimecia's invisible magical hand was strangling Laguna mercilessly.

"You will take me to Rinoa's consciousness," said Ultimecia, her face whipping with madness.

"I don't know ... Rinoa...!" Ellone tried to muster her sentence strongly, but the sight of Laguna being slowly killed was distracting her from her lies.

"Take me to Rinoa's consciousness or _I will kill him,_" spluttered Ultimecia furiously, closing her fingers slowly.

The response from Laguna was far too much for Ellone to handle – he was dying, and Ellone knew that Ultimecia wouldn't hesitate to kill him. If Ellone removed Ultimecia's consciousness, she would lose control of her body and wouldn't be able to kill Laguna; therefore she couldn't renege on her promise. It was the only way to save her uncle...

"I ... a-all right...!" cried Ellone, holding back tears. "Don't kill him!"

Ellone closed her burning eyes and sent Ultimecia into Rinoa's past, causing the sorceress to drop to the floor like a limp rag doll. Due to the time compressed state of the universe, Ellone wasn't sure whether Rinoa's past would _actually_ be the past, or perhaps it would be the present or the future ... she wasn't certain. But all that mattered to her now was that Laguna was freed from Ultimecia's clutches, as he had fallen to the floor from the air and was now gasping for air like a drowning man who had just been pulled out of the ocean.

Ellone rushed over to Laguna and helped him up, tears burning her eyes.

"I'm ... I'm so sorry, Uncle Laguna!" cried Ellone through sobs. "I messed up ... I messed up! ... I should've sent her to someone else's past, but I couldn't think straight ... I didn't want you to die..."

Laguna sat up and threw his arms around Ellone, patting the girl on the back reassuringly with a cough. "Don't worry, don't worry, Elle. You've never been faced with such a confronting situation before so I can't blame you for caving in. Thanks for saving me. This will give us a chance to escape at least, before she wakes up." He stood up in his feet, helping Ellone up as well.

Ellone blinked back tears and tried to put on a strong face. She broke free from Laguna's embrace and abruptly ran to the kitchen bench to grab a large chef's knife, returning to Ultimecia's body with a look of anger and hatred plastered all over her face.

"No, stop!" said Laguna, rushing up to Ellone. He tried to mask how surprised he was at her actions – he never would have imagined her doing something like this. But he couldn't blame her – she was in an emotionally distressed state, and this was probably her only moment of weakness that he would experience. "You can't kill her like that. A sorceress can only die properly if she passes her powers on. If you kill her like that, her consciousness will be stuck in Rinoa's life forever."

Ellone held the knife tightly, her knuckles turning white, before dropping it on the floor. She let out another sob, tears streaming down her face. "I just want it all to end ... I just want it all to be over..."

"We all do," said Laguna softly. "But we have to do it properly. Right now, we have to call the others for help. We have to disconnect the time machine and escape with it before Ultimecia wakes up. Let's just pray that we'll get to safety before Squall and the others try to return ... and more importantly, let's pray that Rinoa can fight off Ultimecia's will, wherever she is."


	11. Possession

**Chapter Eleven**

**Possession**

"Where is her majesty?"

Lynette's eyes fluttered open and the world came into view again when she heard someone speaking to her. Her head was resting on the table for some time now – she must have dozed off after Ultimecia abruptly left the office of the Sorceress Knights, seeing as how they had spent nearly the entire night trying to rid Lynette of the magic seal. She rubbed her eyes and looked out at the doorway to find Sephiroth entering the room.

"Do you know where she is?" Sephiroth repeated.

Lynette stretched and stood up. "No, she left suddenly to deal with someone when she wasn't able to break the seal on my powers."

"I see," said Sephiroth. "So she's still trying to deal with that. I suppose the only way that you'll get your powers back is by going to the source of the curse."

"You mean those knaves on the ship?" said Lynette.

"Yes," said Sephiroth.

"I don't think she's going to them," said Lynette. "She said something about 'Odine'."

"Oh?" said Sephiroth, raising an eyebrow. "Now, why would she go after a worthless lead…? Well, I suppose I'll go after those terrorists then. I'm becoming a bit restless and bored anyway."

"Do you know where they are?" asked Lynette.

"It shouldn't be harder than a simple search," said Sephiroth, walking up to one the many computers lined up at the back of the room. He began to click and type with the glare of the screen reflecting in his eyes, making him look like he was in a trance. "Prisoners on board Ship 2010 bound for Esthar two days ago for abducting and detaining a sorceress ... hmm. It seems they were due to be indefinitely incarcerated at the Desert Prison however a last minute request from Sorceress Aerith led to the arrangement of them being detained at Ultimecia Castle pending a trial..."

"Sorceress Aerith?" repeated Lynette. "The one on the ship with me ... so she really did want them saved..."

"Sorceress Aerith," murmured Sephiroth, the name ringing familiar in the back of his mind. "I'll head to Ultimecia Castle to investigate this matter, then. It's about time that I meet my colleagues in the Order anyway. Perhaps I'll run into that thick-skulled cadet from before..."

"Please find out how to unseal my powers, Sir Sephiroth!" said Lynette, standing up passionately.

Sephiroth barely gave her a nod of acknowledgement and turned off the computer, getting up and readying himself for his journey.

* * *

"Ugh, this woman gives me the creeps," said Zell, shuddering as he stared over Ultimecia's unconscious body in the laboratory. The sorceress queen looked like she was sleeping, and even as she slept she held a look of scorn on her face. "I've never been this close to her before..."

"Zell, shut up and help us move this thing!" barked Irvine, as he, Zack and Laguna pushed the time machine.

Ellone and Laguna had called the others from the hotel as soon as Ultimecia had lost consciousness, and for about half an hour the men had tried to move the machine out of the lab without disturbing the circuits or machinery. Odine had also rushed back as quickly as he could to oversee that the moving went smoothly.

"Even if we do get that thing out of here, where are we going to go?" asked Zell, helping the others move the time capsule. It was about the size of a standard refrigerator and would only require two people at most to move it, but Odine insisted if they handled it too roughly, the machine could break and Squall and the others might be trapped in the other world.

"I agree with Zell," said Lucrecia. "It'll be a very suspicious if we're seen just pushing this thing around, wouldn't it?"

"Isn't there any kind of magic spell you can use to make it smaller, Aerith?" asked Selphie timidly.

"I'm not really a sorceress," said Aerith. "I can only use magic if I have Materia, except for my Limit magic."

"Sorceress ... wait a minute, that's it!" said Zack. "Weren't we on board the ship with a sorceress? She's in Esthar right now, isn't she?"

"Oh, you're right!" said Aerith. "Do you think it'll be worth looking for her?"

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Irvine. "You saw how she spoke to us that entire time! She hated us! If anything, she'd listen to Squall!"

"Argh, Squall just had to be on another planet right now, didn't he?" said Selphie, frustrated.

"And Seifer just had to go with him too," said Irvine, sighing. "I mean, _he _would have been our best bet. He could've pulled some strings and gotten us on a cargo ship or something, and it wouldn't look suspicious at all. Jeez, Zell, you really thought that one through, didn't you? 'Not so fast, Seifer! You'd better go with Squall to prove that you're really on our side!' Yeah, great thinking."

"Shut up, it was a good idea at the time!" snapped Zell.

"Stop it, you two!" said Ellone, putting her hands on her hips disapprovingly. "Arguing about the past isn't going to help us now. Zack, this sorceress you're talking about..."

"Um, I think her name was Lynette," said Zack, scratching the back of his head.

"Her powers were sealed by your bangle, Doctor Odine!" said Selphie, almost cheerfully.

"Is zat so?" said Odine, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"In that case, we can make her help us by promising her that Odine will unseal her powers!" said Irvine.

"I vas just about to say zat!" snapped Odine.

"But are you really going to do it?" asked Laguna.

"Of course not!" said Odine. "She vill kill us all if I restore her powers!"

"But what good is a sorceress without powers?" asked Ellone, frowning.

"Oh, we forgot to mention that the reason she was on that ship in the first place was because she was bound for her villa in Esthar," said Irvine with a smirk. "But she got sidetracked and was taken to the office of knights by Seifer."

"So what you're saying is..." began Ellone.

"Yes," said Irvine, tipping his hat at Ellone. "We can ask her to hide us."

"Will she really house a bunch of fugitives like us?" asked Selphie. "It'll be absolutely suicidal for her if Ultimecia ends up finding out!"

"Relax," said Irvine. "Ellone, you said Ultimecia's lie-discovering power doesn't work on sorceresses, right? She'll be completely safe. And she'll definitely do it if we say Squall's in danger, right? She was all over him on the ship!"

"How do you know?" asked Zack.

"Dude, I _know_ these things," said Irvine wisely. "Anyway, she won't listen if any of _us_ ask her. This is where you come in, Aerith."

"Me?" said Aerith, pointing at herself.

"Yep!" said Irvine. "You're a sorceress, or so she thinks. She'll listen to you because you're on her level. Chances of her agreeing are close to definite if she's helping out her sister or whatever!"

"Irvine, I never knew you were so shifty," said Laguna.

"Mister President, the life of a sniper is a lonesome one," said Irvine sullenly. "When you're alone in the world, you can't trust anyone, and to make your way, you have to deceive everyone around you, even those you care about..."

Selphie rolled her eyes and elbowed Irvine in the ribs without saying anything.

"Ow ... okay, so Aerith, are you ready?" asked Irvine.

"Sure, I'm ready," answered Aerith.

"I'll come with you, just in case," said Zack, pointing at himself with his thumb and grinning. "But where do we find Lynette?"

"Isn't that obvious?" said Irvine. "She was taken to the knights' office only yesterday, so chances are she'd be there."

"All right, let's go!" said Aerith.

* * *

The sky above Mount Nibel was still a nasty tone of grey, and before long, it had begun to drizzle. The party of eight that had just investigated the Mako reactor to no avail was making its way down the mountain trail, disheartened that their journey was thrown off track.

"Where the heck is Cid?" demanded Yuffie, pulling out a cloak from her bag to shield herself from the rain. "Why do we have to walk in the rain down this creepy mountain?"

"He'd already left as soon as we got here, so said he's coming back now," said Tifa, the weather not bothering her at all. "But it looks like a heavy storm is coming so he doesn't want to come up too high. _That's _why we're walking down a bit."

"I thought his beloved airship would be able to handle a bit of rain and altitude," grumbled Yuffie.

Rinoa shivered, the rain clinging close to her clothes. She tried not to show any signs of weakness and to appear strong just as Tifa and the others were, but it didn't seem to work.

"You look like you're freezing, Rin," said Seifer. He began taking off his white trench coat. "Here, wear this."

Rinoa, somewhat surprised that Seifer was being so nice to her, glanced at Squall. He was up ahead of them, walking on his own, so he hadn't realised that Rinoa was cold. Surely if he had seen her, he would've offered his own jacket too, right?

"Um, won't you be cold...?" asked Rinoa.

Seifer snickered. "I can handle a bit of rain."

"A-All right," said Rinoa. She didn't want to cause a big scene so she reached out her hands to take Seifer's trench coat.

However, her hands never made it there. She stopped midway as an agonising, piercing pain jolted up her body and straight to her head. She cried out, closing her eyes and falling to the ground on her knees. Was it a migraine of some sort? No ... this pain seemed far too inhumane to be a mere headache. Her head felt like it was going to burst, and her body felt numb and out of her control...

And then the world faded to black.

* * *

"Rinoa! Rinoa!" Squall was on his knees, holding Rinoa by her shoulders and shaking her worriedly. Everyone had stopped and crowded around to find out what was wrong, worried and wondering why Rinoa suddenly collapsed. Her eyes were closed and her body was limp, and Squall was painfully reminded of the time when Rinoa was in a coma because she had become a sorceress. He thought back to how she had awakened, and shuddered when he remembered that Ultimecia was controlling her.

And then the overwhelming thought daunted him...

_SWOOSH!_

Squall was suddenly knocked back by a magical force emanating from Rinoa's body. It was too late ... his worst fears and suspicions were probably coming to fruition now...

"Pitiful SeeDs."

Squall picked himself up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and to his horror, Rinoa was standing up with a ghastly look of wickedness in her face that made her seem like a completely different person. She spread her arms at her sides and was lifted off the ground mysteriously, as grand white wings like an angel had protruded from her back and made her airborne.

"W-Wings?" cried Yuffie.

"I-It's ... like Sephiroth!" said Tifa in shock.

"Squall, what the hell is going on?" shouted Cloud.

"What are we going to do, Squall?" murmured Quistis.

"D-do something!" said Seifer.

Squall just wanted to shout and tell them all to shut up ... why was this _his_ problem? They were supposed to be a team...

"Her powers are out of control," explained Squall, trying to sound as calm as possible. "But ... this is no longer Rinoa ... this is..."

"_Silence!" _shouted Rinoa. "Cursed SeeDs! I thought I had disposed of you, yet here you are, meddling with my plans again!"

Quistis gasped, as she seemed to have realised that it was not only that Rinoa had lost control of her powers, but it was in fact _Ultimecia _who was controlling her. "S-Seifer, you have to run," she hissed. "Get out of here! If she sees you here, you'll—"

"_Run?_" interrupted Seifer under his breath. "I don't _run_."

The situation was growing graver and graver and Squall was trying to keep tabs on every problem that might have arisen. He knew that Quistis was right – Laguna's plan for Seifer to be a double agent when they returned would be completely foiled if Ultimecia recognised Seifer, and at that stage, it was absolutely crucial for Seifer's survival, and indeed the whole team's survival, that Seifer remained undetected. Squall had to distract Ultimecia so that Seifer could make his escape ... he only hoped that Seifer would catch on...

Squall unsheathed his gunblade and walked straight into Rinoa's line of vision so that Quistis and Seifer were in such a position that Rinoa would have to turn her head to see them. "So, witch, you're hiding behind a vassal again? You should stop being so cowardly and come to the battlefield yourself for once."

"How _dare _you!" bellowed Rinoa. "Let me ask you one thing before I kill you, and if you answer truthfully, I will give you a quick and painless death. How did you get to this place, you wretched SeeD?"

Squall looked out from the corner of his eye to find Quistis and Seifer arguing in hushed tones. _Hurry up! I'm putting my neck out here for you, Seifer, _he thought. "I don't have to answer to the likes of you!"

In an instant, Squall had darted up towards Rinoa, gunblade in hand, and looked as if he were about to deal an attack. He executed his movements slowly and somewhat clumsily to give Rinoa a chance to defend herself, because Squall had no intention of harming Rinoa...

Rinoa raised her hand almost immediately before Squall's blade fell on her, and a magical blue shield appeared around her body, similar to that of which Edea, under Ultimecia's control, had used to deflect Irvine's bullet in the Deling mission. As his attack was blocked, he saw Quistis grabbing Seifer by the arm and darting off into the distance through his peripheral vision. Squall was relieved to have taken Quistis along with him on this mission at that moment – she must have realised what Squall was doing and forced Seifer to escape.

"You think it would be that easy?" hissed Rinoa in a voice that only Squall could hear. "You wouldn't kill this girl ... and that is why _you _will be the one to die instead..."

Squall gritted his teeth and withdrew his blade from Rinoa's shield. He knew that Ultimecia was from the future, but she was not an all-knowing being. How did she know of the nature of their relationship? Was it just a lucky guess because she saw that they were travelling companions...? Or perhaps that was what she meant – that Squall would never harm a friend...

"How come you're trying to hurt her?" exclaimed Yuffie. "Just wait until she can control herself again—"

"You don't seem to understand," interrupted Vincent. "She is no longer Rinoa. She is now Jenova."

"W-What?" cried Yuffie and Tifa at the same time.

"How convenient that you have led me to another puppet," said Rinoa, looking at Cloud with a twisted grin. "And so ... I need not get my hands dirty..."

Cloud furrowed his brow and unsheathed his sword in readiness for Rinoa's attack. But all she did was stare Cloud down with those fiery eyes that didn't quite belong to Rinoa. Cloud was confused at first, but after five to ten seconds, his entire body was filled with a strange tingling feeling that somewhat felt like pins and needles. This sensation then turned into numbness, and soon his head was spinning. The spinning then turned into pain, as if a million voices were screaming and shouting in his head, telling him to do different things...

Cloud dropped his sword and fell to the ground on his knees, just as Rinoa had, clutching his temples in pain with a loud groan.

Tifa ran up next to him and held him up. "Cloud. Cloud! Get a hold of yourself! Remember who you are!"

Cloud's hands fell to his sides and he looked up at Tifa, but to her horror, there was just a sort of blankness staring back at her, as if his soul had been sucked out of his body. Cloud pushed Tifa off of him and stood up mechanically, picking up his sword.

"C-Cloud," whimpered Tifa. "Please..."

"He couldn't fight off Jenova," murmured Vincent. "This is ... just like the time he gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth..."

"Cloud, snap out of it, you idiot!" shouted Yuffie, jumping up and down and waving her arms frantically.

Squall looked from the dishevelled Cloud back to Rinoa, who merely smiled at Squall perversely. In that moment that he was looking at Rinoa, his guard was down and he was wide open for attack – and unfortunately, Cloud had charged up at Squall and delivered a raging blow with his sword on Squall's shoulder.

Squall's attention immediately shifted back to Cloud. He hadn't expected that Cloud would attack him like that – why would he do it? Then it came to him that Ultimecia must also have started controlling Cloud somehow. Squall wondered how she did, as Cloud wasn't a sorceress, but he had no time to speculate – it was clear that Rinoa had delegated the task of killing Squall to Cloud.

_He's not going to hold back, _thought Squall. Cloud was his ally and by no means did Squall want to kill him ... but he was an experienced enough fighter to know that if there is an intent to kill on one side, and the other side had no such intention, then that would be the fatal factor that would decide the outcome of the battle.

_In this repulsive world, it's kill or be killed, _thought Squall.

Squall put on his battle face, which was not much different to his normal face, and rushed into Cloud, his physical form gliding across the ground and throwing Cloud into the air with a single hefty strike of his gunblade against Cloud's enormous sword. As Cloud was momentarily stunned in midair, Squall jumped off the ground skilfully above the blonde and repeatedly struck at his opponent with a solid barrel of quick and powerful slashes.

"You're going down," murmured Squall, as Cloud was defenceless against these slashes.

From the last slash, Cloud was knocked down from the air and smashed into the rocky ground below with a loud _thud. _Squall darted back to the ground, but Cloud had already recovered and immediately seized the opportunity to attack Squall. He raised his sword for a painfully long second and brought the weapon down to the ground violently, letting a bright blue beam run from the tip of his blade across the earth and towards Squall. As soon as Squall had landed, the blade-beam hit Squall square-on in the chest, causing him to double over.

In Squall's moment of weakness, Cloud raced up to Squall so quickly that it was like he teleported. Cloud put all of his body weight into his sword and wielded it against Squall in an upper-cut-like motion, flipping and turning his sword against Squall's body in an almost artistic way. The upward motion blew Squall into the air once again, this time as the party with the lower hand, and Cloud continued to slash away at Squall ruthlessly.

"Yes ... kill him!" snarled Rinoa, clasping her hands in delight.

Squall managed to guard against one of the slashes, causing a temporary deadlock of swords against the two mercenaries. Squall dashed to the side, pulling his weight up in such a way that he could remain airborne, and flung out his right hand yelling, "Barrage!"

Nothing happened, and Squall cursed at himself for forgetting that magic was unusable without his junctions. Cloud took advantage of Squall's confusion by drawing in closer stealthily to his opponent and landing two consecutive blows at Squall, followed by a fierce kick that saw Squall tumbling back to the ground in a massive heap, causing dirt and rocks to splutter from the earth. Still in the air, Cloud thrust out his hand with a murmur of "Bolt", and a fork of electricity escaped from the palm of his hand, engulfing Squall completely.

Squall roared out in agony. He had been nearly completely drenched from the rain, and this had conducted the electricity in such a way that the pain was tenfold. The blue sparks continued to fizzle around Squall, and he knew that the shock and pain would be plaguing him for quite some time until he got dry.

"Hey, what's Rinoa up to?" asked Yuffie suddenly.

Tifa and Vincent looked at Rinoa, who seemed to be in a trance and unfocussed from the fight before her. Her eyes were closed and her hands were clasped together, her fingers interlocked as if she were praying. She was glowing an eerie red, and the wind wisped her hair to make her look like some kind of evil spirit. And nobody had noticed it until then, but the morning sky, as gloomy and rainy as it was, was slowly turning into a familiar tinge of red...

"It can't be," murmured Vincent, in what could be said to be a worried tone. "She's ... she's casting Meteor...!"

Yuffie swore loudly in a similar fashion to what Cid would normally have done.

Vincent whipped his gun out of its holster and aimed it at Rinoa.

"What are you doing?" cried Tifa. "You can't kill Rinoa!"

"I know I can't," said Vincent, not referring to everyone's feelings against killing Rinoa as Tifa was but referring to the fact that it would be much harder to kill Jenova than simply firing a single bullet.

Vincent pulled the trigger, but with the blink of an eye, Cloud had temporarily withdrawn from his battle with Squall and darted in front of Rinoa at lightning speed. The bullet seared through Cloud's shoulder, effectively protecting Rinoa from any harm at all. Cloud's shoulder was bleeding heavily, but the gunshot wound did not seem to bother him too much.

"You'll not harm mother," said Cloud in a droning voice, his eyes like a deep void that stared out at everyone.

Vincent cursed under his breath. If only he was able to rid of Rinoa before, she would never have had the chance to cast Meteor and Cloud would not be possessed...

"_Don't _hurt her!" shouted Squall angrily, turning after being perplexed about Cloud abandoning the battle suddenly.

"I find it a bit inconsiderate that you are allowed to fight Cloud to the death," said Vincent indignantly, "yet we can't take down the true evil here."

Squall cursed under his breath. _There must be a way to stop this without killing anyone, _he thought frantically. _If we continue like this, Ultimecia's going to destroy this planet and both worlds will be doomed ... but I don't want to kill Cloud, and I don't want Rinoa to die just to get rid of Ultimecia... _

"I ... I think it's the only way, Squall!" shouted Yuffie, dread filling her voice. "Killing Cloud won't do anything, but Rinoa..."

Squall blocked Yuffie's voice out of his mind. How could Yuffie suggest such a thing? Perhaps it was because Yuffie and Vincent didn't know Rinoa and they weren't particularly close to her, so of course when thinking about whether to sacrifice one life for the lives of millions ... no, billions ... the choice was obvious. But Squall didn't want to think like that. Perhaps if it was someone else, anyone else but Rinoa, he would agree. But it _wasn't _someone else.

Killing Rinoa couldn't have been the only way to save everyone ... it couldn't be ... why was fate so cruel? Did he really have to choose whether he wanted to save the girl he loved, or to save two worlds? He wasn't allowed to have both...? He didn't know if he could stand living in a world without Rinoa, but then again, if he just let things continue like this then there would be no world to live in at all...

And then an idea formed in his head...

"Persistent fools," said Rinoa, breaking out of her trance. Her white wings perked into the air and she took flight, heading up the mountain and clutching her wound, as if escaping the arena so that she could go back into her trance without being disturbed.

"We have to stop her!" said Tifa. "We can't let her destroy the world!"

"But it'll take a few days, right?" said Yuffie, panicking. "It'll be like last time! It was at least a few days before Meteor came close to The Planet!"

"Sephiroth needed the Black Materia to cast Meteor," said Vincent. "However, Rinoa does not possess the Black Materia, or any Materia for that matter. Therefore, this is an entirely different case..."

"This is not good," said Yuffie. "Quick, do something, Vince! You're smart!"

Vincent aimed his gun at the moving target and fired again, but his bullet was deflected by the blue shield that Squall tried to break through earlier.

Cloud, seeing that Rinoa was safe, dashed forward at Squall and took a powerful but slow swing at the SeeD. Fortunately for Squall, he evaded the attack by dodging to the side and took advantage of Cloud's moment of weakness by raising his gunblade vertically in front of his face and creating a blinding line of light protruding from the tip high into the air.

"Blasting zone..."

Squall forced his blade down to the ground powerfully and the blinding light consumed Cloud like a fire. Cloud tried to block the attack with his arms and sword, but it was no use. Cloud was dazed from the attack and Squall used the opportunity to rush towards Vincent, Tifa and Yuffie.

"Vincent, Yuffie, Tifa ... go after Rinoa and stop her from casting the spell," said Squall. "But _don't _kill her. Do you hear me?"

Vincent hesitated. "Do you have a plan?"

"I do," said Squall. "But Cloud is set on killing me, so I'll need your help."

"How are we supposed to stop her?" asked Tifa. "She has an ongoing shield protecting her."

"She won't be able to hold up that shield whilst casting the spell, controlling Cloud and trying to escape from you all at the same time," said Squall. "Rinoa's powers aren't that advanced and powerful yet ... there is only so much that Ultimecia can do in Rinoa's body, so she'll have to give up at least one of her tasks. Just distract her and make her cease movement. She can't go too far if she wants to keep control over Cloud. I'll try to follow you, but it'll be difficult because Cloud will be pursuing me..."

"Wait, I know!" said Yuffie abruptly, delving her hands into her pockets and rucksack and searching wildly.

Squall looked at her quizzically, but had no time to ask because Cloud had recovered from his dazedness and was charging at Squall like a bull. Squall leapt into the air at the last second to avoid being tackled by the blonde mercenary, and Cloud stopped hastily to follow Squall.

Vincent and Tifa hurriedly followed Rinoa's trail as Squall had requested whilst Yuffie was still on the ground, rummaging through her personage and her bag.

"Braver!"

At the sound of Cloud's voice preparing for an attack, Squall noticed Cloud's sword glowing dangerously and glided away from Cloud's range as quick as he could. The Braver attack was indeed long in execution and Squall thought that perhaps Cloud had chosen a bad time to execute it, as Squall had escaped from range in time. But Squall was horribly mistaken – Cloud had foreseen that Squall would try to escape from range and had in fact used the Braver skill to make Squall _think _that Cloud was too slow, when in fact he was using it to close in on Squall and take advantage of his sense of security.

Cloud landed a ferocious blow in a diagonal direction across Squall's chest, causing Squall to groan in pain as his chest bled freely. Squall could see Cloud coming back for another attack, but his soaring inner energy and adrenaline levels combined with his desperate circumstance allowed him to muster that familiar rush of Limit Break in his body, completely blocking Cloud's attack and leaving him in a doubled-over position, wide open for attack.

"Lion Heart!" shouted Squall.

Squall's gunblade, his soul, burned furiously as he hurtled through the air, sending Cloud flying up, and mercilessly dealt his signature deadly blows one by one in a blinding motion. He could hear Cloud's cries of pain, but it made the attack all the more satisfying...

But in one of the intervals between the rapid blows, Squall was overcome by emotion – he had let himself go in this battle and treated it as if he was battling a mere monster on the field. But this was not just any battle. He knew that he had begun the fight with the mentality that it was kill or be killed – but this was the man that saved Rinoa and for that he owed Cloud his life, and just as Yuffie had said, what good would killing Cloud do anyway? Squall was overwhelmed with guilt and stopped himself from delivering the final fatal blow that would surely have caused Cloud's death if he was not healed quickly enough, and let himself float back to the ground on his feet.

"I found it!" exclaimed Yuffie, holding up a small phial of some mysterious substance. "I knew it was a good idea to save this rare baby!"

Cloud was stunned and badly wounded in the air, and gravity eventually took its course. Cloud fell to the ground, but he was far from knocked out – his will to eliminate Squall was clearly still strong, and Cloud stood on his feet with his sword in hand and ready to continue fighting again, although his stance was weak and his knees slightly swayed.

"Hey Cloud, take this!" shouted Yuffie. "DREAM POWDER!"

The ninja threw the small phial she was holding at Cloud with perfect aim, and the phial broke when it hit Cloud, causing a fine glittery powder to fall all over the blonde's black clothes. Cloud was puzzled at first, but the mercenary's eyes dropped slowly and Cloud's knees gave way, causing him to fall on the ground. Yuffie ran up to Cloud, and Squall followed her, assuming that it was safe to do so.

"Gah, you really messed him up!" said Yuffie, horrified at how badly the sleeping Cloud was bleeding.

"Uh, well—" Squall began, pointing at his own heavy wounds, but Yuffie couldn't see as she cast a Cure3 spell on her friend. The wounds immediately closed, but Yuffie didn't seem to want to clean Cloud's blood for him.

"Now you don't have to kill him," said Yuffie. "Aren't you glad I kept that Dream Powder?"

"Shouldn't you be asking Cloud that?" said Squall. "And I don't have any magic, so if it's not too much trouble..."

"Oh quit your whining," said Yuffie, and immediately proceeded to restore Squall's health.

"Thanks," murmured Squall. "Come on, we've got to go after Rinoa."

Yuffie had picked up the deeply sleeping Cloud with one of his arms wrapped around her shoulder. "Um, excuse me! I'm not carrying this guy all by myself. Do you have any idea how heavy he is?"

Squall opened his mouth to protest that carrying Cloud along would slow them down, but Yuffie didn't give him the chance to.

"We can't just leave him here!" exclaimed Yuffie. "There are monsters around! What if they eat him? What if they kill him? Tifa would kill me if I let that happen! I saved your ass back there so you _better _help me!"

Squall sighed, not wanting to argue because he knew arguing with Yuffie would just make the process even longer. Squall wished his junctions were functioning, as this could have been easily solved with a Float spell. Instead, he stood next to Cloud and wrapped the blonde's free arm around his shoulder and they began pursuit of Rinoa and the others, lugging Cloud along with them.

_Please, Rinoa … I believe in you … don't doom us all, _was all that was running through Squall's head.


	12. Alone

**Chapter Twelve**

**Alone**

"Hello...?" called out Aerith, walking across the ground floor of the sorceress knight building and looking around nervously. "Where is everyone...?"

"This place reminds me of a smaller and emptier Shinra Building," said Zack, shuddering. "The emptiness makes it a bit creepy..."

Zack and Aerith were only the least bit apprehensive of approaching Sorceress Lynette to negotiate some kind of deal where she would hide Laguna and the others from Ultimecia's clutches in exchange for breaking the seal on her sorceress powers. Aerith and Zack were ordinarily very honest people, and the idea of tricking someone for their own personal gain indeed weighed heavily on their conscience. But alas, it was just unacceptable to leave Squall and the others trapped on the Planet – and if Ultimecia were to find Odine and Ellone, all hope of saving both planets were in peril. Sometimes a smaller wrong was needed for the greater good…

"Doesn't anyone work here?" asked Aerith.

"Maybe today's a holiday," said Zack, shrugging. "You remember the story we have to tell Lynette, right?"

Aerith nodded. "Yeah … but I'm not a very good liar…"

"We're not lying, we're just … bending the truth a little," said Zack, grinning sheepishly.

"I hope Doctor Odine won't mind us making him seem so evil-like," said Aerith.

"By the way he talks and acts, I'd say he's a borderline Hojo," said Zack, sighing.

"You're right, I think we should feel guiltier for Squall," said Aerith. "I don't think he'll be too happy with what we say…"

"He'll be happy if it means he can come back in one piece," said Zack. "I'm sure deep down, he's a real lady-killer and he'll like the story."

Just then, the sound of footsteps came trotting down the staircase behind the couple. Zack and Aerith ceased conversation immediately and turned around reflexively to find Sorceress Lynette walking down the stairs with a tired look on her face. Her sharp features seemed to have significantly softened since last they met, her piercing blue eyes offering nothing short of weariness. Despite the lethargy in her expression, she still maintained a striking appearance.

"You two … from the ship…?" began Lynette.

"Lynette!" said Aerith, "you're just the person we're looking for."

"Why are you looking for me?" asked Lynette, coming down and approaching them.

"There're some urgent things we need to talk about," said Aerith.

"Before that, why's this building so empty?" asked Zack.

"Her Highness dismissed everyone from their duties for the day," said Lynette. "She didn't want to be disturbed when she was trying to remove this damned bracelet."

"Oh, that's exactly what we wanted to talk to you about," said Aerith.

"Oh?" said Lynette, cocking her head.

"We've got some good news for you," said Aerith, nodding. "We've befriended a man named Doctor Odine—"

"Have you?" exclaimed Lynette, almost hysterically. "He's the one who's—"

"Responsible for sealing your powers, yeah we know," interjected Zack. "We only just found out. And guess what, we were able to strike a deal with him for you!"

"What do you mean?" asked Lynette, furrowing her brow.

"Well," began Aerith, "you remember, Squall, don't you?"

"Yes, I remember him!" said Lynette, almost excitedly. She cleared her throat. "I mean, yes, he's the knight who brought me to you all when I was in danger."

"Well, I think he needs a favour from you right now," said Aerith sullenly. "He's in trouble at the moment."

"What do you mean?" asked Lynette.

"Well, Doctor Odine is a scientist," said Aerith. "And he … kind of conned Squall into participating in one of his crazy experiments…"

"What?" exclaimed Lynette.

"You see, when Squall found Odine, he tried to convince him to unseal your powers," said Aerith solemnly. "But Odine wouldn't agree. So Squall made a deal with Odine – he would undertake Odine's experiment in exchange for restoring your magic."

"H-He did that … for me?" said Lynette, her eyes widening.

"Squall really likes sorceresses," said Zack, nodding. "That's why he's a knight. But see, the thing is … Odine's experiment technically wasn't meant to happen. This experiment involved discovering more about magic, which was meant to be a secret … Ultimecia isn't meant to know about it, you know?"

Lynette stared at Zack and Aerith, as if they were maniacs. "You … are you Ultimecia resistance…?"

"Shh, shh!" said Zack desperately, lowering his hands in attempt to hush her voice despite the fact that nobody was around. "Hear us out. Squall's in danger, get it?"

"To cut a long story short, Squall is lost in time and space at the moment," said Aerith sincerely. "There may be a chance that he'll never return. Squall's a dear friend of everyone, and we all very much want him back…"

"Yeah," said Zack. "Odine's trying to save him now without being found out. But this experiment was uh, hidden from Ultimecia. I mean, Queen Ultimecia. And once she finds out, she's going to skin Odine alive. That's why he needs to work in secret. We didn't know what to do at first, but then we thought of you – the only person who can possibly help us. When we told Odine, he said that he'll agree to unseal your powers if you can provide him with refuge."

Lynette took a step backwards, holding onto the staircase rail as she almost stumbled. "You people are mad. You want me to betray my queen and shield some criminals?"

"No, no! We aren't criminals!" said Aerith quickly. "Odine wanted to discover more about the truth and learn more about Sorceresses' powers. We just somehow got swept up in all of this." She smiled nervously, hoping that Lynette would believe her. "Please help us. Help _Squall. _Look in your heart. Ultimecia will never know what you have done for us, because you're a sorceress and she can't penetrate your mind. You can't lose in this situation. Please, I know this is a very difficult decision to make but there just isn't any time. We're just so worried about Squall and we'll do anything to get him back…"

"And what if I refuse?" said Lynette sharply. "You dared to be bold enough to confess this to me, believing that I'd assist you without a doubt? Such arrogance! I could hand you all over right now to the authorities and have you dealt with!"

"We know," said Aerith. "Don't you appreciate the risk we're taking? Squall told us you were different from the others … that's why we were so confident…"

Lynette's confidence from a second ago deflated in an instant with that very sentence. "I…" She stood up higher on her feet. "I…." She was thoughtful for another moment. "I will aid you this one time, then. For my sake."

Aerith breathed out a sigh of relief, despite the immense feeling of guilt overcoming her. They had just manipulated someone's feelings into abetting them by lying … was this really the right thing to do?

* * *

"This is stupid … how can we just sit here while everything's going on?"

Seifer punched the ground on which he was sitting on with his fist angrily. Quistis, sitting next to him in a nook of the mountain, rolled her eyes but remained calm. She had handled Seifer's complaining and irrationality many times before – this was just another one of those times.

"Seifer, for once in your life, please just listen to me," said Quistis. "It's all over for you if Ultimecia sees you. All we can do is wait until things die down."

"Can't you think of a new argument?" groaned Seifer.

"Can't _you _think of a counter-argument?" snapped Quistis.

Seifer scowled and just folded his arms in response. In his moment of silence, he suddenly heard human footsteps approaching and hopped to his feet, gunblade in hand.

"Seifer! What are you doing?" said Quistis, jumping to her feet in readiness of lecturing her companion.

"Shut up!" hissed Seifer, peering over his shoulder cautiously. "Someone's coming!"

"Then that means we have to _move_, not _fight_," Quistis hissed back. "What if it's Ultim—"

Before Quistis could finish her sentence, Seifer withdrew from the hiding place and jumped out to confront the incoming visitors.

"Hold it—!" Seifer began, but to his disappointment it was just Squall, Yuffie and an unconscious Cloud.

"What the hell are you doing, Seifer?" demanded Squall furiously. "Don't be so careless! You're meant to be in hiding."

Seifer groaned. "Oh. It's just you guys."

Quistis came out from the nook of the mountain when she heard Squall's voice. "I'm sorry, Squall. Seifer just got a bit bored." She paused and looked at the unconscious Cloud, who was being supported by Yuffie and Squall. "What happened to _him_?"

"He got owned by my dream powder," said Yuffie, grinning. "No matter how tank Cloud is, his immune system would always be his downfall. But onto more pressing matters – we have to stop Rinoa from casting Meteor!"

"But lugging Cloud around is slowing us down," said Squall, slightly irritated at Yuffie's tone. "But since you're so bored, Seifer, you can take care of him." Squall handed over his side of Cloud to Seifer hurriedly. "I'm sure you blondies will get along great while I try to kick Ultimecia out of Rinoa's body. I'll see you all soon."

And with that, Squall darted off to find Rinoa without another word, leaving Seifer staring after him incredulously.

"Great, now I've been promoted to nurse," grumbled Seifer, pushing Cloud's unconscious body to Quistis to look after as he sulked.

* * *

"You're back!"

Selphie jumped up and down as Aerith and Zack returned to the outside of the lab with Lynette trailing behind them. Irvine, Zell and Laguna were found in the front of the lab attempting to lift the time capsule onto a trolley of some sort at the direction of Lucrecia and Odine. Selphie and Ellone seemed to be acting as moral support.

"Oh, I see you guys have advanced about 10 metres in the past hour," said Zack, amused.

"The Doc will only let us move it carefully, otherwise we might break it," said Zell.

"Howdy Ms Lynette," said Irvine, freeing his hands from the time capsule and tipping his hat at the sorceress.

Lynette didn't respond.

"Hello Ms Lynette, my name is Lucrecia Crescent," said Lucrecia. "Thank you for assisting us."

"Don't become too friendly yet," said Lynette coldly. "So I assume you're Doctor Odine?"

Doctor Odine's expression did not falter when Lynette addressed him. "Yes, you assume correctly."

Lynette glared at him and for a moment, it looked as if she would slap him across the face. "Do I have your word that if I shelter you all, you'll remove this seal?"

"Only ven Squall and ze others return safely shall I do it," said Odine shortly.

"Very well then," said Lynette. "I shall take you to my villa then."

"No, that's too dangerous," said Laguna. "If anyone sees you walking around Esthar with us, it'll be suspicious and Ultimecia might find out that you're harbouring us. We need to look out for your safety too. So I think it would be best if you told us the address and you go on ahead first. We'll meet you there later. Also, it'll be really suspicious if we move around in a big group, so maybe Zack, Aerith, Selphie and Ellone should go on ahead with Lady Lynette."

Lynette, taken aback by how foolish she was for even suggesting she lead them and surprised that Laguna was looking out for her, nodded.

"And if anybody asks, we're delivering this 'refrigerator' for you," said Laguna. "Got it?"

"Got it!" chirped Selphie, Ellone and Aerith.

Lynette suddenly felt less nervous and bitter about this operation … she was actually somewhat interested and excited to see how this little adventure would turn out.

"Well I'll go on ahead, then," said Lynette. "I _could _have helped you move this thing back to my villa, but since you refuse to move the seal, you'll have to make do with manual labour."

Irvine and Zell groaned in frustration, glaring at Odine menacingly.

"Get back to work!" shouted Odine, ignoring their glowers.

* * *

"Try casting magic on her," murmured Vincent.

"Will it work?" whispered Tifa.

Vincent and Tifa had caught up to Rinoa after a short pursuit, but remained hidden from Rinoa's sight in order to formulate a plan. Squall had only abruptly said 'Stop her from casting the spell', but the pair did not exactly know _how _to go about doing that. Rinoa was now just a little ways up from where she had initially lost control of her body, and was now floating in midair with her grand wings spread out and her eyes closed, readying Meteor. An eerie aura surrounded her, as it felt like she was draining the energy out of every living thing on the Planet.

The mountains were silent, other than the pitter-patter of the rain and the occasional roll of thunder. The silence was completely unreflective of the chaos that awaited them. Even the monsters that usually inhabited the place seemed to hide in fear of what was to come.

"Trying magic is better than just standing here, watching her destroy the world," grumbled Vincent.

"All right," said Tifa, not liking Vincent's harsh sense of humour. "Sleep!"

The magic energy floated down on Rinoa, and surprisingly her force field was not in effect. It appeared Squall was right when he said that Rinoa was unable to balance the multitasking of controlling Cloud, summoning Meteor and keeping up a magical barrier. Unfortunately, the Sleep spell seemed to have absolutely no effect on Rinoa at all.

"This is hopeless," cried Tifa softly. "We've been pursuing her for so long…"

"We can't do anything if we don't engage in combat with her," said Vincent, cursing his promise to Squall that he would not harm Rinoa. "Try some more indirect magic on her."

Tifa hesitated, but agreed by piling on more status spells in hope that they might even remotely affect Rinoa. Sleep, poison, slow … it was spell after spell and Tifa just wasn't sure if anything was happening. Her mana was depleting, all to no avail…

Suddenly, Rinoa's magical barrier disappeared. Tifa and Vincent were the slightest bit hopeful, but this hope was quickly crushed – it was all too clear that Rinoa did this of her own accord when Rinoa darted in their direction in a quick dash through the air. Tifa and Vincent didn't even have a chance to register what happened, and before they knew it, it was like Rinoa had just teleported in front of them.

"Pesky vermin," said Rinoa harshly in a voice unlike her own.

She flung out her arm horizontally in front of her face in the blink of an eye, and suddenly Tifa felt some force seize her by the throat and lift her off the ground. It was as if invisible cold hands were strangling her, and all she could do was hold her neck in an attempt to force the hands off her and kick her legs in the air helplessly.

Vincent, seeing Tifa in danger, shifted to offensive position, disregarding what Squall had previously ordered him to do. He wondered if this little encounter had distracted Rinoa from her Meteor-casting, and hoped that he could prolong this distraction by irritating her some more.

"Damn witch," murmured Vincent.

He first aimed his gun at Rinoa's head, but Squall's words echoed in his head. Instead, he aimed his weapon at the arm Rinoa held out which appeared to be suffocating Tifa by some magic. He fired one warning shot at her hand. Since there was no barrier around her anymore, the bullet penetrated her hand and made her wince and reflexively jerk back, her hand bleeding profusely.

Tifa immediately fell to the ground, holding her neck and gasping for air. "Thanks… Vincent…"

Rinoa looked at her hand and cured it easily with a healing spell. She looked at Vincent menacingly.

"Death by Meteor would have been quick and painless," said Rinoa, "but death by my hand … is excruciating…"

"Tifa, Vincent – engage in combat."

Tifa turned around at the sound of the command, and found Squall standing behind them, breathing heavily from what she assumed was running. He had his hand on his gunblade, the point stuck in the ground. He looked somewhat casual but at the same time very serious…

"Understood," said Vincent, not questioning Squall's request at all.

Vincent strung a couple of non-lethal body shots at randomly selected parts to weaken her and to lower her chances of defending against them. The shots hit on target and wounded her, causing her to double over and stumble clumsily.

"Squall…" began Tifa, wondering why he was suddenly fine with fighting his lover, but Squall simply nodded with look of certainty in his eyes.

* * *

As Sephiroth walked through the corridors of Ultimecia Castle, he heard the whispers and mutters of "So he's the new boss" and "I've never seen him before", and other comments along those lines. The Sorceress Knights were quick to catch onto his aura of authority, and all it took was a mere glance in their direction for them to halt and salute their superior. The great SOLIDER couldn't help but feel slightly nostalgic.

"Sir." A young woman with silky black hair in Knight's uniform approached Sephiroth and saluted him respectfully. It was the first time all day someone had actually taken the initiative to approach him. "My name is Xu, Sorceress Knight Rank A. Welcome to the headquarters."

"Thank you," murmured Sephiroth.

"I've been informed you wish to see the prisoners captured on the ship bound to Esthar for sealing Sorceress Lynette's magic," said Xu. "Usually some paperwork is meant to be filed for such a meeting, but obviously the junior administrators had no idea who you are. Please follow me."

Sephiroth nodded in response and followed the young knight. "So when is this 'trial' due for?" he asked as they walked.

"A direct offence against a sorceress is usually one of strict liability, sir," said Xu. "Meaning, the offender shouldn't have the chance to be heard. But this really is a special case, since an appeal from another sorceress was made for a trial to be granted. The time of trial hasn't been decided yet, but the prisoners are to remain incarcerated until such a hearing has been decided."

"I see," said Sephiroth. "And they haven't said a word about how to unseal Lynette's powers?"

"Even under force, they won't talk," said Xu.

"And what were the grounds for the appeal made by the sorceress?" asked Sephiroth.

"I'm not too clear on the details myself," said Xu, swiping her ID card at a door which he assumed was the prison. "But Sorceress Aerith said it was imperative to keep them alive because they're the only people who can undo the seal."

"I see," said Sephiroth.

"Well, they're in this division," said Xu. "I'll wait outside for you."

"That is unnecessary," said Sephiroth. "You're dismissed, knight."

"Sir." Xu saluted her officer and left without another word.

Sephiroth waited for her to disappear from sight, then swiped his own identification card at the cell of the offenders. He entered to find a group of very plain people in different cells, who were much younger than he had imagined them to be.

"It's … Sephiroth? Of SOLDIER?"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, surprised that someone knew him under that title. This was going to be more interesting than he thought.

* * *

"Pesky SeeD!" said Rinoa shrilly, attempting to cure herself from the wounds Vincent and Tifa had recently inflicted on her in their recently opened fight. Squall had been standing and observing the sequence, unmoved and not taking any action.

"What is it, Ultimecia?" asked Squall coolly. "You can't handle a few setbacks? Are you too distracted and can't complete your Meteor spell?"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" shouted Rinoa angrily, her eyes flickering with rage. "Do you think I can't cast the spell with a few ants biting at my hand?"

Squall wasn't sure if she was bluffing about being able to multi-task or not, but he couldn't take any chances. He had to end this now, especially if Rinoa had the potential of summoning Meteor without remaining still and concentrated. He assumed it would just take longer, but even then, he had no idea how long that would be. Squall decided to stay aside and let Tifa and Vincent handle things for the time being to see how things would unfold.

Tifa and Vincent continued fighting Rinoa. Tifa cast Ice on the sorceress before roundhouse kicking her and knocking her to the ground. Vincent then shot Rinoa in the leg so that she wouldn't be able to stand up easily. Rinoa, in a poor position on the ground and not used to close-range combat as a sorceress, cast a fire spell strong enough to damage both Tifa and Vincent in one go. She tried to recoil in this stagger time, but her mobility was impaired and she couldn't move away. She instead tried to heal her leg, but Vincent had recovered from the painful explosion of fire and shot at her casting hand again, preventing her from healing herself.

"Curse this slow body," murmured Rinoa. Rinoa's sorceress powers were far too underdeveloped to cast the sophisticated spells at the high speed that Ultimecia was capable of doing.

Rinoa used her left hand to cast a weak quake spell to shatter the earth below Tifa and Vincent so that she might have been able to buy some time to heal herself, escape and continue casting Meteor at maximum capacity.

As the ground beneath Tifa and Vincent's feet fell through, causing them to fall through to the lower layers of the earth, Rinoa healed herself quickly and glided off to continue casting Meteor at maximum capacity. Squall was surprised that she didn't bother going after him, but had no time to contemplate why. He had to stop Rinoa from finishing off the spell…

Squall chased after the sorceress in the heavy rain, having no time to see whether Tifa and Vincent were safe. When he caught up to her, he found her standing placidly with her back to him in a trance-like state. She looked sullen and alone, just standing still as the cold raindrops fell on her body. Her hair and clothes were drenched, and she looked a little sad. Squall faltered for a minute upon seeing her gentle form in front of him … but his logic got the better of his emotion and he pressed on…

A shrill scream resounded around the mountains. Rinoa choked in immense pain as she looked down at her chest.

The tip of a silver, callous blade protruded from Rinoa's petite body, deep crimson blood dripping to the ground. She tried to make another sound, but it was like her voice escaped her.

Squall stood behind Rinoa with his gunblade in his hands, almost trembling at what he had just done. The girl who he swore to protect had just been stabbed in the back by the person she trusted most ... nothing hurt more than to know that it was all his doing...

His plan was not to kill her, but to make Ultimecia believe that Rinoa was dying so that Ultimecia would leave Rinoa's body. After all, if Rinoa were to die, Ultimecia would be stuck in a dead person's consciousness forever if she did not leave. Squall had studied and fought enough in his lifetime to know how to put a person in immense pain and make them believe they were on the verge of death to prolong suffering without actually killing them … all he had to do was hit the right spot…

But despite the fact that he wasn't really killing her, it was still tearing him a part. He delayed himself so that he would remember what this scene looked like – remembered every detail, every emotion … so that he may punish himself eternally for it later, and remind himself of this feeling so that he would never do it again...

"Cursed … SeeD…"

Rinoa choked up blood, but Squall could still feel magical energy emanating from the sorceress's hands. Was Ultimecia going to occupy Rinoa's body until the very last minute, and in that time continue to cast Meteor…?

"Risky, isn't it?" muttered Squall from behind her. He was glad that he didn't have to see Rinoa's face … he couldn't imagine how full of pain it must have been in ….

"You … can't … stop … me," gasped Rinoa. "Meteor … will be ... cast…"

Squall kept his hands on his gunblade, not moving an inch. He looked to the sky, wondering what Meteor would look like when it collided with the Planet...

"…because…" continued Rinoa. "I know … that you will never … kill … Rinoa Heartilly…"

Squall's eyes darted away from the sky and stared at Rinoa, almost in horror. Ultimecia had said it before when she had initially taken over Rinoa's body, but Squall thought nothing of it. How did she see through his plan…? How did she know about their relationship? Now that he thought about it, who _was _Ultimecia really? What does she know about him? _How _does she know about him?

"…you love her … too much…"

Squall's eyes widened at these words, his hands gripping on the hilt of his blade as tight as he could muster. He couldn't believe Ultimecia had the audacity to say such things...

"…you … love her … more than … life itself…"

Squall grinded his teeth, his heart beating much faster. Was she just emotionally blackmailing him? Was she gambling with Rinoa's life? It was too puzzling yet infuriating at the same time…

Meteor drew closer and closer … any minute, the deed would be done and all life on this Planet would be destroyed, and his world will be under Ultimecia's complete control. So why was Squall frozen? It was clear Ultimecia wasn't bluffing. He couldn't just stand there and wonder forever… there would be time to discover answers later…

"You're wrong," murmured Squall. "It's because I love Rinoa that I love life…"

Squall jerked his gunblade from the non-lethal position in Rinoa's chest and ran it across to Rinoa's heart. Rinoa's scream of pain echoed in Squall's ears, and he knew that once he removed his blade, she would bleed to death.

"Looks like you were wrong ... you don't know me at all," said Squall coldly.

"You … scum…"

Towards the end of that uttered sentence, Rinoa's normal voice returned. Ultimecia had escaped Rinoa's body and presumably returned to her own so that she would not die along with Rinoa. She couldn't complete the spell … she couldn't summon Meteor … he succeeded, but it was a bittersweet victory…

"Rinoa…" murmured Squall from behind. Blinking back a tear of guilt, he pulled out his gunblade quickly out of Rinoa's body so that she would feel minimal pain. Rinoa winced and her weak body fell backwards, and Squall let his gunblade drop to the ground so that he could catch her.

"Squall," whispered Rinoa upon falling into his arms. Ultimecia's fiery eyes were gone, and Rinoa's warm gentle ones had returned. Her face was drained from colour, her hair a mess, sweat and blood dripping down her face.

Squall held Rinoa tightly in his arms, feeling her hot blood sticking to his clothes. "I'm sorry…"

"Because I'm … a sorceress … Squall's blade … will pierce my … heart," said Rinoa weakly, coughing up blood as she finished. "It's all right … if it's you … Squall … only you…"

Squall blinked back hot tears as Rinoa repeated those words that she had said to him not too long ago. At the time, he dismissed those words, telling her she was foolish for even thinking such a thing. But look where he was now … he killed the woman he was trying to protect from the world, all so that he might save it. It was his burden…

"Rinoa," mumbled Squall, trying to clear the lump in his throat that just would not disappear. "Those who die in this world are reincarnated in ours … I'm going to go home and find you…"

"But … we just … found each other," whimpered Rinoa. "After all that … searching…"

"I'll find you," whispered Squall, squeezing his eyes shut tightly so Rinoa wouldn't see his tears. "I'll find you. I promise."

"I'll … be waiting…" said Rinoa quietly. "Squall … don't cry…"

Squall opened his eyes to find that tears were streaming down his cheeks, despite how tightly his eyes were closed. His hot tears were mixed with the raindrops on his face, and he wondered how Rinoa knew that he was weeping. But he didn't care about the weakness he was showing anymore. All he cared about was keeping his promise…

Tifa emerged alone from the scene of the quake to find Squall holding Rinoa in his arms. She quickly rushed up to the pair and saw that Rinoa was bleeding from a fatal wound.

"Rinoa!" said Tifa in shock.

"Tifa…"

"Oh thank goodness it's really you," said Tifa, breathing a sigh of relief. "Cure! CURE!" She swore under her breath when her utterances had no effect. "I'm sorry! I'm out of mana! Where's Vincent? I'll give him my Materia so he can—"

"Goodbye, Tifa," murmured Rinoa. "We'll meet … again…"

"No!" cried Tifa. "No, don't say that! VINCENT!" She scrambled away back to the fallen rocks to desperately look for Vincent.

Squall clutched onto Rinoa, his hands trembling. Did he do the right thing…? Was it worth it…? Will Rinoa forgive him…? Will everyone else forgive him…?

"Don't cry … Squall," said Rinoa again after a struggled gasp of air. She tried to raise her hand to wipe away Squall's tears, but just as she reached his face, her arm disappeared and turned to sparkly green particles. The rest of her body soon disappeared, the green particles like glittery dust flying off into the air and returning to the Lifestream.

And it was then that he was holding onto nothing.

Squall took a deep breath. She was gone and it was because of him. Even though he knew she returned to the Lifestream, which was in his world, and he was positive that she would be alive, it didn't excuse the fact that he was the one who killed her. Maybe it was Rinoa's words – "Squall's blade will pierce my heart" that foretold the future … perhaps there _were_ guarantees in this life … maybe it was his destiny...

The pitter-patter of the heavy rain did little to wash away the pain that Squall felt in his heart at that moment. He sat in the middle of the mountains of a foreign world miserably, once again alone.


	13. Ultimecia's Decree

**Chapter Thirtee**

**Ultimecia's Decree**

Cloud heard the sound of rain and, for a moment, forgot where he was. His eyes shot open, hating the feeling of not remembering where he fell asleep – especially if it turned out to be a prison. His eyes met a rocky shelter and he immediately recognised the place as Mount Nibel. His delayed senses made him realise how uncomfortable he was feeling after lying on a rocky surface and sat up slowly. Recent events started to come back to him – they were going to the Mako reactor to travel to Squall's world, but it didn't work ... he and his friends then faced off with a possessed Rinoa … but then what…?

"You're awake," said a gentle female voice.

Cloud turned around with a start to find Quistis and Seifer sitting not too far away from where he was lying down. It seemed like they had been sitting there in silence, just watching over him.

"What happened?" asked Cloud, rubbing his temples. "I don't remember at all…"

"Rinoa became possessed by Ultimecia," said Quistis. "And then Ultimecia somehow started controlling you. You weren't yourself and turned against us."

"What?" said Cloud in surprise. "Again…"

"This has happened before?" asked Quistis, concerned.

Cloud nodded slowly. "Yeah. A few years ago, Jenova took control of me and made me give the Black Materia to Sephiroth. I couldn't control my actions … I had no idea what I was doing … I thought it would never happen again, but…"

"It's okay," said Quistis after Cloud trailed off mid-sentence. "You don't have to talk about it."

"Where's everyone else?" asked Cloud. "Is everyone else all right? Why are we here?"

"We're here because we need to keep Seifer away from Ultimecia's sight," replied Quistis. "Squall and Yuffie coincidentally ran into us here while they were trying to carry you to safety, so they left you with us. Everyone's gone to take care of Rinoa. What that involves exactly, I'm not too sure…"

"Damn … Rinoa…" Cloud sighed heavily.

"This isn't Rinoa's fault," yelled Seifer, breaking his silence.

"Relax, I wasn't blaming her," said Cloud. "I'm just—"

"Worried about her," said Quistis, finishing off Cloud's sentence. "We all are…"

"Then why are we still sitting around here?" shouted Seifer. "I can't take it anymore! You expect me to sit around here quietly like a good kid while Rinoa's out there like that? I don't care if I'm in danger – when the hell have I ever cared? Let's just go!"

"Seifer…" It appeared Quistis's patience was also running thin, but it was clear to Cloud she still wanted to keep the risks to a minimum.

"Vincent! Vincent!"

Cloud's attention perked at the sound of Tifa's voice calling in the distance. He suddenly stopped caring about Quistis and Seifer's argument and rushed out into the open, carrying his sword with him. The cold rain danced on his skin and the mist combined with the downpour clouded his long-range vision, but he was able to barely recognise the faint outline of Tifa's body approaching.

"Tifa!" called out Cloud.

Tifa heard Cloud's call and came rushing into his general direction. It also seemed that Seifer and Quistis had abandoned their hiding spot and joined Cloud in his rendezvous with Tifa.

"Cloud!" cried Tifa, as she came closer. "Cloud, you're all right!"

"I'm fine," said Cloud as he approached her. "Are you all right?" He observed Tifa's poor condition, even though he had seen her in a much worse state before. She had magical wounds all over her body, but she didn't seem to care at all.

"I'm okay," said Tifa. "I'm looking for Vincent, but he's disappeared. Please, you have to come quick – I'm out of mana and Rinoa's in a critical condition—"

"What?" exclaimed Seifer.

"I – I don't know," said Tifa weakly. "I found Rinoa in Squall's arms, pretty much bleeding to death. Squall can't heal her because he can't use magic here, and Vincent's gone–"

"Calm down," said Quistis. "Is she still Ultimecia?"

Tifa shook her head.

"Squall! That bastard!" roared Seifer. "Come on, we don't have time to waste!"

"Take us to them, Tifa," said Cloud.

Tifa nodded and ran back into the direction that she came from, the others following her closely.

* * *

Ultimecia's eyes fluttered open, her body tingling as if she was experiencing a severe case of pins and needles. Her senses picked up the smell, feel and sight of Odine's laboratory almost immediately. She then remembered Odine's betrayal and stood up in a flurry, her blood boiling.

"ODINE!" roared Ultimecia fiercely.

The room was void of movement and life, and she realised that Odine, Laguna and Ellone must have taken her unconsciousness as a chance to escape. Her temper hit the roof and she screamed in frustration, her voice piercing the atmosphere.

"_DAMN YOU ALL!_" the Sorceress Queen shouted. She spread out her hand and began magically conjuring up miscellaneous spells for the sole purpose of destroying the objects around the room haphazardly. Furniture and files burst into flames and test tubes shattered into tiny shards of glass, all while she screamed in burning frustration. She grabbed objects within her reach and threw them at the wall furiously, her temper boiling.

_They've gone … and they've taken the Machine with them_. _Time and space compression has slipped out of my hands…_

She cursed at her foes in her head, fantasising of cruel and painful punishments she could deliver to them if she were ever to find them. She was too blind with rage to think clearly and find a way to actually track them down, but she then remembered something vital.

_Rinoa was killed on The Planet, _thought Ultimecia. _That means she has returned to the Lifestream in this world somewhere…_

Ultimecia's lips formed a twisted smile. She knew exactly how she would find her traitors now … she just needed to lure them back with some bait.

Ultimecia abandoned Odine's laboratory, burning down the entire building to a crisp after she left so that Ellone, Odine and Laguna could have nothing to return to. She teleported away from the area and appeared back at Ultimecia Castle in a cloud of purple smoke, then headed for the Rank A Sorceress Knights' barracks. She walked through the doors to find some knights chatting with each other whilst off duty and others doing paperwork. She walked in, her heels clicking on the floor, and every knight stopped to look and bow down to her.

"Knights," said Ultimecia calmly.

"Your Highness!" they all barked stiffly, bowing.

"All of you are the top knights of the Order," said Ultimecia. "Has it come to your attention that there are supposedly people mysteriously turning up in parts of the world who claim to have no feasible recollection of where they are and what's going on?" She was of course referring to the souls from The Planet who had travelled through the leaked Lifestream to get to her world, just as Sephiroth had.

A blonde female Knight who was sitting at a desk doing paperwork stood up when a soft chatter broke out without anyone actually answering Ultimecia. "Yes, there have been some local civilians reporting that such a situation is occurring in certain places."

"And how have you responded to this situation?" snarled Ultimecia, causing the quiet chatter to cease immediately.

"Erm … well, we haven't taken any _drastic_ action," said the blonde female Knight. "They were taken to medical clinics and whatnot to have their health checked, but the knights would usually leave once they were taken there."

"And none of you deemed this to be suspicious or problematic at all?" said Ultimecia, raising her voice. "Nobody bothered to report this to me, or to make further investigations into it?"

"Well … we thought it was a harmless situation, Your Majesty," murmured the blonde knight, averting her gaze shyly.

"Well I'll tell you it certainly is not a harmless situation," said Ultimecia. "I'll tell you what happened and you all better take note." She cleared her throat. "A team of my scientists had been secretly conducting experiments on wild monsters without my knowledge. They were attempting to genetically modify the monsters to make them human-like and more intelligent so that the scientists could create an army to start a rebellion against the sorceresses and the Sorceress Knights. However, I was able to find out about this heinous crime before the scientists could finish the experiments."

The air in the room grew dense and uncomfortable as Ultimecia explained this to them.

"Apologies, my Queen … we had no idea," said another young male knight.

"The scientists frantically released all of their test subjects before fleeing once they had been discovered," said Ultimecia, ignoring the remark. "Those 'people' you see wandering around, oblivious to their surroundings and confused about who they are – they are in fact humanoid monsters and are potentially very dangerous. The reason why they are disoriented is because the experiments were never complete, so their brains are not fully developed and they have no recollection of this world as we know it."

"And how do you wish the situation to be handled?" asked the blonde female knight.

"They are potentially very dangerous," repeated Ultimecia. "We must proceed with caution, as we do not know if their monstrosity will return to them. To protect the civilians, sorceresses and knights, you are to detain any such person who appears suspicious or perplexed about who they are or their surroundings. To identify such people, you must ask for their names and search for them on the Worldwide Registry of Citizens – if their name does not appear, detain them. You should know that all citizens should be registered. You can also ask them questions that every person should be able to know, for example, who is the Sorceress Queen? Where is the Order's headquarters situated? If they cannot answer such simple questions, you detain them."

"Detain them in the prisons?" asked another male knight.

"Yes, for the time being, until a correctional centre of some sort is established and I can find trustworthy scientists to observe them," said Ultimecia.

_I should be able to make some use of those nobodies from that pathetic planet, _thought Ultimecia.

"Understood," said the male knight.

"Also, have an arrest warrant issued for a Doctor Odine and Laguna Loire," said Ultimecia. "They are the escaped scientists who developed these hideous experiments. They are registered on the Worldwide Registry of Citizens – look at their faces on the system and keep an eye out for them. Unfortunately they destroyed their lab, so there is nothing left there for you to investigate. I want them alive and their capture is to be reported to me immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness," said the two knights in unison.

"And one more matter of absolute importance," said Ultimecia. "You are all to be on the lookout for a girl by the name of Rinoa Heartilly. If she does not give you her true name, this is what she looks like." The Sorceress Queen spread out the palm of her hand and a holographic image of Rinoa's face appeared in the air, the same holographic image she had shown in Ellone's interrogation.

"She is not one of the monsters," said Ultimecia. "She is actually a sorceress. In fact, she is my daughter that I had kept hidden from the world for a long time in fear of her safety, but the scientists kidnapped her and performed some sort of experiment on her to find ways to destroy sorceresses. She therefore may appear to be disoriented and unknowing of the world around her, and she will not be registered on the database of citizens. It might be possible that she would say ridiculous and possibly seditious things, but it is safe to assume that it was because of the experiments. It is absolutely crucial that you deliver her to me alive so that I can rehabilitate her."

A murmur of concerned chatter began to rise in the room. Amongst the comments were, "Who knew Her Highness had secret children?" and "Those scummy scientists … we'll get them!"

"Rinoa's safe return to me should be every knight's _first _priority," said Ultimecia, causing the chatter to cease. "That is all. Inform all knights of this policy and upload Rinoa's picture to the database. Then arrange for this news to be broadcast to the public so that they may report any suspicious characters or any sign of Rinoa to the knights."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

* * *

Squall sat with his palms firm on the ground behind him, his legs stretched out and his head looking up to the grey sky. The heavy splashes of rain from the angry clouds above drenched him to the bone, and all he could do was stare back at the sky, as if Rinoa's spirit was floating somewhere up there. He was soaked through, but the chill biting at his body was nothing like the coldness that enveloped his heart.

_I killed her … I killed Rinoa…_

The thought was so surreal yet all the more painful. He repeated it over and over in his head, unable to replace the memory with anything else. It was of no comfort to him that there was a high possibility of her reincarnation back on his home planet – there was nothing other than Rinoa's forgiveness that would wash away his guilt.

"Squall!"

Squall couldn't care to glance ahead, but he recognised Quistis's voice calling him. He must have looked pathetic just sitting there, staring at the rain spitting on him…

And then it hit him. His cool, calm, collected self took over his senses. He couldn't sit there sulking and looking pathetic – none of his problems were going to fix themselves. He was a leader and he had a task to do. It was weak to let emotions get in the way of his work. He promised Rinoa that he would find her again – and that was what he would do. His mission and getting back to his world were only incidental to that promise.

Squall picked himself up off the ground and composed himself as Cloud, Quistis, Yuffie, Seifer and Tifa approached him, each looking more worried than the last. He noticed that Vincent wasn't with them, but would ask about that later.

"Squall! Are you all right?" asked Tifa. "Where's … Rinoa…?"

Squall cleared his throat, trying to force the most neutral voice he could muster. "She's gone."

"Whaddaya mean 'she's gone'?" asked Yuffie. "Where'd she go?"

"Away … into the Lifestream…" murmured Squall.

"Th-the Lifestream?" said Tifa, slightly horrified. "Squall … you don't mean…"

Squall didn't respond. The rain began to lighten to a drizzle, the sun barely reappearing behind the grey clouds.

"Squall…" began Quistis, clearly at a loss for words.

"You _BASTARD!_" shouted Seifer.

Squall suddenly felt a blunt force overwhelm his right cheek, causing him to stagger back a bit. Seifer packed a hard punch and Squall didn't even notice that his rival had thrown it directly at his face until it actually hit him. But Squall didn't wince or react in any way. He could understand Seifer's anger … he didn't blame him at all. Someone had to say it to him, and everyone else there was just far too diplomatic to do it.

"You … _scum!_" shouted Seifer, his face frothing with rage. "How could you betray her? You were her damn _knight_, Leonhart! Don't you even know what that means?! You were supposed to protect her, but you stabbed her in the back! How is it that you're living with yourself right now?!"

Squall rubbed the dull pain in his cheek and regained his balance. He couldn't even answer Seifer – he had no right to answer. He could easily defend himself with his own rationality and how it was the only way to stop Ultimecia, but it wasn't like Seifer would listen to him. Besides, Squall couldn't even bring himself to make up excuses for his behaviour…

"There were a million ways you could've handled this situation and you decided to go with the worst option," snarled Seifer. "You disgust me."

"Are you done?" asked Squall shortly.

Seifer swore loudly. "And you just gotta continue with that pathetic cool guy façade. Don't you have any feelings?! Don't you even care about what you've just done?!"

"This is rich, coming from someone who tried to kill and endanger Rinoa multiple times," snapped Squall, unable to restrain himself from remarking on Seifer's hypocrisy.

"Unlike you, _I _was brainwashed!" Seifer argued back. "You did this all of your own will, you asshole!"

"Enough," said Cloud, who up until now had appeared emotionless and indifferent. "Arguing isn't going to bring anyone back. Squall did what he thought was necessary and it clearly saved us all from having our Planet burnt to a crisp."

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere yet you take sides with this scumbag, huh?" spat Seifer, glaring at Cloud.

"Let's go back to the ship," murmured Squall, not wanting to talk anymore about the subject. "Our mission was to find out how to get back to my world, and we've found out that we've got to get to Lucrecia's Waterfall. We should hurry back." He began to walk away from the group and back towards Cid's airship, but he could still hear their comments from ahead.

"He sure is calm," remarked Yuffie.

"He's always calm," said Quistis.

"Calm … pssh, more like uncaring," growled Seifer.

"Seifer … you've got no idea," said Quistis heavily.

"Hey, we have to look for Vincent, guys!" said Tifa.

"Oh yeah … I wonder where he's gone off to?" asked Yuffie. "I'll give him a call!"

Squall didn't care to hear about what his comrades thought about him, nor was he particularly worried about Vincent. He blocked their conversation out and continued to head back to the airship alone. He was set on returning to his world and finding Rinoa no matter what.

* * *

By the sea on the Estharian continent was a villa which was nearly the size of a football field. It stretched across the landscape with beautiful architecture and gardens; however it was void of any human life, making it seem very empty and dead. The villa was at least half an hour away from the central business districtof Esthar City, making it seem more devoid of life and activity, since it was isolated from any other.

A taxi dropped off Lynette and Aerith by the entrance of the villa under the pretence of travelling back with their 'servants', Selphie and Zack.

"Holy moly … you _live _here?" asked Zack as the taxi sped off.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that," said Lynette, leading them to the large pearly white gates which were left wide open. "I used to live here with my sisters, however they've all moved away and live in different parts of the world now. I don't stay here much since I like to visit them often."

"So this place is empty most of the time?" asked Aerith.

"Yes," said Lynette, nodding.

"But why would you leave the gates open like this?" asked Zack. "Won't people come in and steal your stuff?"

Lynette shook her head. "Try to go inside and steal something."

Zack looked confused but did as Lynette said. He tried to walk through the gates, only to be knocked back violently by some sort of magical force field. He was clumsily flung backwards before landing squarely on his backside.

"Ouch," growled Zack.

Aerith rushed over to Zack and helped him up as Selphie burst into a fit of giggles

"I guess you deserved that for asking such a dumb question!" said Selphie.

Zack grumbled under his breath as he stood up, holding a sour expression on his face.

"I placed a seal on the entrance so no intruders can pass," said Lynette. "There used to be servants living here to look after the place while my sisters and I all lived here together, but now that we're hardly here, it's too much of a hassle to keep the servants. That's why we just use a magic seal now."

"I guess this place is pretty much abandoned," said Aerith.

Lynette shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. I'd just say … unused most of the time."

"So um … how are going to get in?" asked Selphie. "You don't have magic right now, right? How are you going to unseal the entrance?"

"It doesn't need magic to be unsealed," said Lynette. "I just have to stand in the gateway and it will open. The magic recognises anyone of my bloodline and it will open up. But we have to wait for the others to arrive, otherwise they won't be able to get in and we won't know they've arrived."

"Are you serious?" groaned Selphie. "You need to install a doorbell!"

"They should be arriving soon, shouldn't they?" asked Aerith. "They would have left a little while after us."

"Hey, do you think that's them over there?" asked Zack, pointing out into the distance.

Everyone turned to where Zack was pointing and watched as a lone black car came driving on the empty road up towards the villa. It had a sword and shield painted in gold on the bonnet, and looked quite magnificent.

"That's not them … that's a Sorceress Knight's car," said Lynette.

"Oh no!" squealed Selphie. "Are they onto us…?"

"Relax ... Odine and the others haven't arrived yet," said Zack. "We've got nothing to worry about. They're probably just going to drive right past us."

"Doesn't look like it, Zack," said Aerith worriedly, as the marked car approached them and appeared to slow down.

"Let me handle it," said Lynette.

The black car came to a halt at the gates of Lynette's villa. The front door swung open, and a buff, dark-skinned male in a Sorceress Knight uniform exited from the driver's side. The knight strode towards the party confidently, while holding an emotionless expression on his face.

"Is there a reason why you're loitering around a sorceress's home?" asked the knight.

"It's because I live here," said Lynette curtly. "I'm Sorceress Lynette."

The knight looked only slightly surprised. He pulled out a small electronic device that resembled a smart phone and typed something into it, examining it, then examining Lynette's face.

"You dare not take my word for my identity?" said Lynette, frowning.

"My apologies," said the knight. "There has been suspicious activity in these parts and it's necessary for me to cross-reference the identities of those whom I investigate. It's all right, your face matches the directory's file. Are these your servants?"

"Such arrogance," murmured Lynette. "Yes, these are my servants. Is there is anything in particular you want from me?"

"No … I saw you hanging about here and needed to check you weren't intruders," said the knight. "If you haven't heard yet, there has been talk of some rebels on the run. Queen Ultimecia has made it the knights' priority to find these individuals. Here's what they look like."

The knight showed the screen of his device to Lynette, which bore digital photographs of Odine and Laguna's faces. Beneath the photographs was a chunk of text outlining the various crimes of the pair.

"I see," said Lynette. "Well, good luck in finding them."

"Thank you, my lady," said the knight. He gave a quick salute and walked back to the black car, speeding off into the distance.

"This is bad!" said Selphie when the car was out of sight. "I hope the others can get here without running into any knights!"

"It will be problematic," murmured Lynette, scrunching her face. "If Odine is captured before he gets here, I'll never get my powers back."

"All we can do is wait and hope for the best," said Aerith nervously.

* * *

Beautiful green lights and the sensation of a light breeze lifted Vincent's spirits. He couldn't remember anything prior to this sensation, and could only concentrate on the endless black abyss surrounding him. The only thing that gave him comfort was the entrancing particles green of lights around him. He felt lightheaded and tried to look down at his own body, only to find that his being was not present.

_The Lifestream? How did I get here? _he wondered, trying not to panic.

"Laguna, are you going the right way?" a familiar female voice said.

Vincent tried to find the source of the voice, but there was absolutely nothing around.

"If I remember right, I'm sure this is the way to Lynette's," said a male voice. "Trust me, Lucrecia!"

_Lucrecia!? _Vincent desperately tried to advance his 'position' – but he had no control of himself or anything around him…

Slowly, a faint outline of what seemed to be a few people walking down a road eventuated in Vincent's senses. He tried his best to get closer, to make sense of it all, to make something happen, but it was futile.

"Vincent!" echoed Yuffie's voice, which sounded very far away. "Vincent! He's here, everyone!"

_The way to Lynette's... the way to Lynette's... _Vincent tried to etch that phrase into his memory...

"Quick, use your Phoenix Down!" said Tifa's voice, equally as distant.

The mysterious lights around Vincent began to slowly fade into nothingness, and once again blackness enveloped him…

_The way to Lynette's..._

"Vincent!" cried Yuffie, her voice much more within reaching distance than before.

Vincent's eyes sprung open and he was immediately met with fatigue. His senses returned to him, and the familiar sight of Mount Nibel surrounded him. Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie and Quistis were all standing around him in a pile of rocks and rubble. He then remembered that Rinoa had cast a powerful earthquake spell on him, which resulted in his being crushed into oblivion by the rocks and earth.

"Thank goodness we found you in time," breathed Tifa.

Vincent got up on his feet weakly. "Thank you, everyone," he murmured.

"Let's get back to the airship," said Cloud. "We need to go."

Vincent nodded and allowed his companions to lead the way, trailing behind quietly. His mind wandered back to the sensation he had felt before. He had been knocked out in battle before many times, but he supposed that really was a near-death knockout since nobody was around to heal him … but what was the hallucination he felt? Was it really just a hallucination, or was it the sensation of the Lifestream pulling him into the other world…?

The thought disappeared when he felt a snap of pain in his arm. His Geostigma was playing up again … but it was the least of his concerns now. He pulled his sleeve over the visibly infected area hastily before any of his friends could see his pain, and continued walking along with them back to the airship.

* * *

**Author's note: **apologies for my super long hiatus (wow, has it really been 2 years?) Hopefully I can update regularly again!


End file.
